Celebrate a Summer State of Mind

The day opened with a sky filled with bright sunshine. An intense warmth enveloped every living object so when my husband suggested, "Let's go to the beach," we quickly readied ourselves for the short jaunt. While the calendar read Labor Day, the official day the beaches close, we were not ready to say goodbye to summer. Off we went!

Others were not letting go of summer either as evidenced by the packed parking lot. Children were chatting away under the coolness of the outdoor showers and families were unloading their cars with beach paraphernalia. Rows of lifeguard chairs were stacked in the area in front of the dunes.

I paused for a moment to photograph the lifeguard chairs in need of an end-of-summer overhaul, thinking here in the sand lay the hope that summer continues on.

Like a group of pioneers crossing the desert with heavy possessions, beachgoers trudged through the expanse of sand leading to the shoreline. The sun's rays were heating the sand to the point that sandals were needed every inch of the way. I stopped to rest a bit before continuing the heated walk. As my feet sank into the sand, I remembered what a beach medic told me a few summers ago. "Be careful when walking in the sand on a hot day. You can easily get feet burns from the heated sand." 

Once happily situated near the shore, I edged my toes in the sand, enjoyed the breeze whipping past me, and continued to read my beach book, The Memory of Things by Gae Polisner. 

Ah! What can be better than a summer state of mind?

I hope you enjoyed a summer state of mind as I did but like Charlie Brown, 

I say, "Sigh...there goes another summer, Snoopy!"

😎

Slice of Life at Two Writing Teachers

Celebrate This Week with Ruth Ayres

Creativity Spurts

"Creativity doesn't wait for that perfect moment. It fashions its own perfect moments out of ordinary ones." - Bruce Garrabrandt

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An ordinary day,
a backdrop of muted hues,

seagull against the sea

soaring

©CVarsalona, 2017, Long Island

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Using the beginning of the Grarrabrandt quote, Creativity doesn't wait for that perfect moment, and Sean Mitchell's original photo from Ontario, I digitized the beach scene and created a Golden Shovel poem. 

one ordinary day, creativity

enters but doesn't

stand still and wait.

it moves, longing for

a time that

holds a perfect

light in a sunkissed moment.

©CVarsalona, 2017

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 "Creativity involves breaking out of expected patterns in order to look at things in a different way." - Edward de Bono

This summer's Poetry Swap led by Tabatha Yeatts has brought forth a surge of creativity. For Swap #3, Joy Acey, children poet, sent me a lengthy letter on life in Hawaii followed by another mailing with a colorful series of patterns representing sunset over the water. What fun it was to receive two packages. 

Letter writing seems to be a lost art these days. Joy's artwork and handwritten poem are below. I look at this and imagine the beauty of the Hawaiian shore line. What a gift of nature-inspired artwork from a talented colleague!

My reply to Joy:

Joy's artwork inspired me to create a reply. I superimposed a photo of a summer sunset on Long Island onto Joy's original image. Joy's poem as well as Sean's beaching image will be placed in my summer gallery, "Sunkissed Moments".

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This week's Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted for the first time by fellow writer, Kay McGriff. You can access Kay's post and poems here.

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More quotes on creativity can be found here.

If you catch a sunkissed summer moment, 

please consider offering it for my summer gallery.

Beaching in the Atlantic Waters

July in Long Island always has had its heated days but this summer it seems to have been hotter than usual. 

What's a family to do when the heat reaches a record high? 

We go "beaching" because the cooling Atlantic Ocean waves are always ready to greet us for summerscapes moments. 

Take a stroll with me, #digipoetry style, 

to my favorite summerscape site, the beach.

Gentle reminder that I am collecting #imagepoems, digital creations, inspirational quotes, music, and photos for the digital, global gallery, #Summerscapes, I am designing. August 31, 2016 is the deadline. I hope that additional Poetry Friday friends will participate. 

Please visit my colleague, Julieanne Harmatz, at To Read, To Write, To Be for the Poetry Friday Round-up. Be sure to wish her a happy birthday.

Beaching

To those who love a summer day, the south shore Long Island beaches that I frequent are special places of beauty. While there are many on Long Island, Jones Beach State Park has been renowned as a getaway destination since it opened in 1929. Designed by Robert Moses it became the mecca for summer beach going on Long Island for the middle class. 

www.jonesbeach.org

While I never grew up in this area I often heard of the beauty of the 6.5 miles of white sand beaches that stretched along the Atlantic Ocean. Seeing is believing though. As a young bride, I moved to Long Beach from central New York to my husband's once bachelor apartment at the shore. Most of my family's growing up years were spent at Long Beach and Malibu Beach but recently we have frequented Jones Beach to savor summer moments.

This summer, the beach has been the backdrop for many relaxing moments. Each day that I travel to the beach I am rewarded. Light from the sky intersects the ocean reflecting like jewels across the sea. Frothy waves surge and splash on their way to shore causing children to laugh with glee. Bathers tiptoe to the ocean for their first wave or body jump in depending on how brave they are. Tents are pitched, umbrellas poised as shelters from the sun's rays, and beach blankets of bright hues line the shore. For those who love the ocean, beaching is a favorite pastime on Long Island. 

Ode to the Sea
Pablo Neruda

HERE
Surrounding the island
There's sea.
But what sea?
It's always overflowing.
Says yes,
Then no,
Then no again,
And no,
Says yes
In blue
In sea spray
Raging.
Says no
And no again.
It can't be still.
It stammers
My name is sea.

Read the rest of the poem here.

For your pleasure you can listen to Beyond the Sea as you view stunning photos of the beach.

I am in the process of collecting combined poetry and photograph offerings 

for the global gallery of artistic expressions, Summer Splashings,

that I am creating. You can access the information here.

Now travel to Tabatha Yeatts' site at The Opposite of Indifference for the Poetry Friday Round-up. Tabatha kicks off today's Poetry Friday with a humorous true-story poem.