High Tide, Tuesday September 2nd, 2008

Tuesday was Maura’s last day of summer vacation and I wanted to make it fun and memorable without driving far or spending much of money. Since it was warm and sunny we decided to go to the beach. We packed a bag and headed for Nantasket Beach, a short drive from home in the town of Hull, Massachusetts.


The first thing we noticed when we got to Nantasket was that there wasn’t much beach. The tide was high and there was more surf than I had seen at Nantasket Beach before. Near the parking lot the waves reached the boulders that line the seawall. We walked along the beach past the recently renovated bathhouse and picked a spot where there was a strip of dry sand between the water and the wall. I set up my chair while Maura stripped down to the bathing suit she wore under her clothes.


While Maura played in the sand I relaxed in the shade by the seawall. I kept an eye on Maura but I didn’t worry much. She didn’t go in deeper than her knees or go far down the beach. Though there weren’t any other kids her age around she was clearly having a good time without getting into trouble.


I amused myself by watching people and occasionally by scanning the water with binoculars to watch the ships on their way in and out of Boston Harbor. I saw a Coast Guard helicopter hovering over the sea. Something was raised and lowered from it but it was impossible for me to tell if it was a rescue or a training mission. After the helicopter headed for shore I shifted my gaze to a container ship that was headed out of the harbor. I imagined what might be in the containers it carried.


Suddenly I was hit by a wave that came all the way to the seawall. I was soaked. So were Maura’s clothes and the beach bag. The legs of the beach chair were festooned with seaweed. Maura’s beach toys were washed away and now were racing back and forth in the surf.


I quickly put down the binoculars. Maura, a few yards down the beach, hadn’t been hit by the wave. We chased her beach toys through the surf until we caught them all. It was a good thing they were bright colored plastic. Then it was time to leave. I didn’t want to stay on the beach if the tide might still be rising.