This life on a beach

The weather has turned very warm – isn’t it wonderful that Block Island is surrounded by beaches? I could fill this post up with photos of sea and sand, just one to make you all jealous. But don’t be too jealous. Yesterday I thought I would try

Surf Beach – named after the Surf Hotel on the corner behind – not much sign of surf today, and the sand is too hot for walking.

the beach nearest to me, which is Ballards, south of Old Harbor and the place where the sand drops of into the bay and all the tourists come off the boat and lie on the sand all day. But, it does drop off, and I thought I could manage to dive through where the waves break before thundering up the slope. It is glorious on the other side, clear, clean and deep. Well I did manage it but then there were a couple more big waves and I got tumbled twice which is definitely two times too many. Thank goodness the beaches are sandy this year, not shells and pebbles [it depends on what the storms have done in the winter], as the only result of being tossed up the slope was about a ton of sand down the front of my swimsuit. Why do swimsuits suddenly become very very loose when under wave control? At least most of it stayed on.

Goodbye Ballards, this morning hello Surf Beach which is the north side of the Harbor and stretches all the way along in a huge crescent. The whole sweep is called Crescent Beach, but each bit has its own name. Surf, Baby, Town, Scotch, and Mansion before it bends around the Clayhead in the distance and then along to the North Light and the Point. [That is Clayhead in the photo.] The water was beautiful, the sand hot, I could swim. In the afternoon, I rode out to Baby Beach and met up with grand-daughters and other families there. It is still fairly empty of people but also utterly beautiful this year, lots of sand and very few stones. Baby Beach is so-called by the locals as it is always safe and good for swimming for kids, it is where all the local families congregate.I met friends I have not seen for two years. I am ready for summer.