meeting the ocean

Last week was a very special week for us. We drove to the coast and spent a week on the beach with family... and introduced our one year old to the ocean.

As my girl discovered the ocean and beach, I rediscovered it along side her. 

She spent great amounts of time out walking the shore picking up shells and raking her hands through the sand. 

There was a great abundance of small oyster and clam shells, many of which where dark in color. We noticed that most of the time she gravitated towards small, white and cream colored clam shells. These were her favorites, along with bits of wood and grass.

In watching my girl experience something wonderful for the first time, I found myself gaining a whole new perspective. A slower pace. A simple pleasure. Being present in a moment. Taking a deep breath. Letting yourself get dirty.                                     



My, she has so much to teach me about life and grabbing hold of it.

We took a stroll at the far end of the island and found some really beautiful sea life. 

A live starfish,

a flock of seagulls,

a perfect butterfly wing,

and this beautiful, blue dragonfly. He sat there, still as you please and let me take this photo. How polite.

Sun and salt. Briny wind and waves. Sand, water, shadows, shells... All the glorious things that the ocean offers, my girl drank them all in and soaked them all up. 

 When the week drew to a close, we said goodbye to the beach, took our pail of shells, our small bag of soft sand, and our (meaning mine) extra freckles home to our mountain home to greet the oncoming autumn season. I am feeling very grateful for the opportunity to spend time with family and to share a special part of the world with our little girl.