One adventure is to explore the beach to search for seashells; another is
to build sandcastles. Still another is to watch the sea gulls and pelicans
dive and fish for food.
Suzanne and Roger enjoy watching the pelicans. They often watch the
large, clumsy-looking birds fly low above the water until they see a fish
beneath the surface. The pelican slips into a dive, folds its wings to cut
the water cleanly to reduce the shock of hitting, disappears in the spray
and rises with the fish in its beak pouch. The bird flies off with the fish
to eat it, or to feed it to the baby pelicans. That's a little adventure for
Suzanne and Roger.
There are also big adventures. Those happen when Suzanne and Roger
and their mom and dad go sailing. Sailing often takes them far out to
where the islands meet the sea. There they hike and explore the hills,
and at night, sleep in a tent ashore or in bunks on the sailboat. Those
are real adventures and we'll be talking about them soon.
***
I was thinking of Suzanne and Roger this morning and wondered what
they were doing. I pictured them on the beach in the bright sunlight,
walking toward where sand dunes had been built up by the wind and
waves.
The dunes slope down to the beach, and tall reeds grow on the sides and
along its ridges. When the wind blows, the reeds lean far over and
rustle.
Birds build nests among the reeds. Sometimes, small animals rush up
or down the dunes and through the reeds on their way from here to
there, or from there to here. The dunes are among Suzanne's and
Roger's favorite places for exploring.
I walked to the beach. Suzanne and Roger were waiting at Three Palms.
They had a story for me. Suzanne told the story just as if it was
happening right then.
Suzanne's story:
When we get to the beach, we climb to the ridge of a dune. The wind is
a gentle breeze and the reeds make a soft, sushing sound.