Cooling off

Circling waves.

I spin on the circle of wave upon wave of the sea.

~ Pablo Neruda

Waving hello.

The calendar might not yet proclaim it to be summer, but the weather here sure does.  We are in the midst of a rather oppressive heat wave with no end in sight as far as I can tell.  Every time I step outside I feel like the Wicked Witch of the West after Dorothy throws a bucket of water on her, and I find myself thinking the lines from the 1939 film (“The Wizard of Oz”):

I’m melting, melting.  Ohhhhh, what a world, what a world…

As I slowly melt into the ground.  Ha.  Not really.  I feel as if I’m going to slowly melt into the ground, but it hasn’t happened yet.

We did get the rain we needed which has turned the great outdoors into the Great Steam Bath.  I was happy to see the gardens get the water they need, and I’ll just have to grin and bear the humidity that resulted from the occasional rain showers we’ve been getting over the past couple of days.

Under my umbrella.

On Saturday, as predicted, M and I went to Assateague to enjoy some time at the beach where it was much cooler than it was here at home.  At first it didn’t seem that way, but the wind switched around so that we were getting a sea breeze and by the time we left that evening, we both felt refreshed.

Another wave.

The water was lovely.  According to the board at the lifeguard station, the water temperature was 60°F, but it felt warmer than that to me.  68°F maybe.  It was a little chilly at first, but once I went all-in, it was just right.  It was the coolest I’ve felt in a while, and if I could, I’d be there now swimming and floating and enjoying the ocean.

This is the place to be.

The waves were nice.  Big enough for body surfing with no rip currents or forceful undertows.  We arrived at low tide and left just before the evening’s high tide.

Relaxing.

We did have a bit of excitement.  M and I were sitting on our beach chairs under our umbrella with the cooler we brought sitting between us.  I was reading, deep into the book, when M quietly said my name and I noticed a group of children standing beside M, pointing and giggling.  I looked behind me to see what they were pointing at and there was a big brown head, nosing around the cooler.

Looking for something to snack on.

It was one of the wild horses.  I couldn’t think of what I was supposed to do in a situation when a wild horse is in such close proximity (we were practically nose to nose for a few seconds) so I sat there calmly until the horse walked away.  Turns out you are supposed to calmly back away at least the length of a bus, but I think if I had gotten up, it would have startled the horse and the idea is to avoid startling the horse.

Pause and scratch.

This is the first time I’ve actually seen a wild horse on the beach.  Usually we seem them in the parking lots, campgrounds, and the marsh.  Or blocking traffic by standing in the middle of the road.

Moving along.

You are not supposed to feed the horses, of course.  Obviously this horse knows where to look for food either because he got lucky and accidentally discovered food in a cooler or on a beach blanket or someone has fed him.  He nosed around quite a few beach blankets and coolers during his short walk on the beach with no qualms at all about walking across towels and blankets.

Surely there must be something good to eat here.

I am guessing the lifeguards are not supposed to do anything about wandering horses because none of them came down from their chairs to assist the horse in moving away from people.  That makes sense to me.  Better to leave the lifeguards to their job of making sure folks are safe in the water.  They shouldn’t have to be horse wranglers too.

Let’s try the next group and see if they have anything good to eat.

There weren’t any rangers around at first, either.  One showed up later and convinced the horse that standing in the midst of a crowd of people was not his best choice in life.

Maybe down here…

Eventually the horse came to rest near the water.

Looking out to sea.

He stood there for a while doing what we’d come there to do, and that’s cool off.  I’ve seen pictures of the horses standing on the beach near the water.  They have a film about the horses at the Assateague Island National Seashore visitor’s center, and the narrator informs you that during hot, buggy days, the horses like to stand on the beach and enjoy the breeze.  It’s a good way to get away from the bugs.  The water must have been too cold for this guy.  When it came up to his hooves, he stepped back quickly, not the least bit interested in going for a dip.

Lovely day.

All in all, it was a great day.  We did get a glimpse of the Blue Angels (who were performing at the Ocean City Air Show) and hear the sonic booms from their planes.  I had Lulu with me (my little everything-proof point-and-shoot camera) so I was unable to get any good pictures of the planes.  Lulu is great in the water and on the sand, but she doesn’t have much zoom power.

I reckon that’s it on this hot, humid, overcast Monday.  Thanks for dropping by.  I don’t think it’s worth bothering to brave the heat and insects to go watch the sunset unless we watch from the pool.  Feel free to jump in with me.  Sunset this evening will be at 8:27.

A little girl watching the waves.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

Today’s joys:  Air conditioning; iced tea; the pool; light summer clothing; light summer meals.