Tag Archives: beach

Birthday Surprise

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The first thing we do on a beach vacation is go to the store and buy 2 beach chairs, a noodle (for me), a beach umbrella, and a little cooler. At the end of vacation, we usually leave the beach chairs etcetera at our Airbnb.

Since i can see that our host already has a stash of paraphernalia at his condo, and since there’s a Lamborghini, an Audi, a Range Rover, and a Ford F-150 parked in the driveway, i’m pretty sure the people here don’t need more stuff.

We spent our last beach day at the beautiful Boqueron Balneario (town beach). As we packed up, i gave my noodle to the only family within sight. The children were busy burying Mom in the sand.

Near us sat a 30-something couple. We gave them our 2 beach chairs. She had beautiful braids way down past her waist; he had a shaved head. They were from Connecticut, and it was her birthday!

Who knew that when we bought those beach chairs, we were buying a birthday present!

Things Fallen Apart

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I am on vacation in Puerto Rico where impermanence is everywhere i look. I feel distressed. Buildings blown to bits by hurricanes–Maria in 2017 and the less powerful, but slow-moving Fiona in 2022. Wrecked theme parks, billboards, and boats. The famous art museum of Ponce closed since the 6.4 earthquake in 2020 centered nearby.

As a cultural WASP, i just want to tidy things up. Yet the spiritual lesson is in letting things be. Look at the destruction. Be comfortable. Or rather, be comfortable with the discomfort of infrastructure working on a thin thread of acceptable.

Within sight of my Airbnb lies two miles (miles!) of dysfunctional oil refineries. Rusted pipes galore. Rusted oil tanks just waiting for the next hurricane to shatter them and blow their sidings out to sea.

I can also see 2 wrecked ships, rusting into the shallow sea in a nearby bay.

Yet, people still go to work. Fishermen fish. Families go to the beach on Sundays.

Things fall apart. And stay fallen apart.

And so will i.