Monday 2 April 2018

A to Z Challenge - B is for Beach!



Ah, yes the beach - such an evocative, sensual, healing place in my life.  I was first introduced the wonders of the beach by my parents, my mother in particular.

1957 - Breezy Point, NYC
Mom and her girls, 1960










The beach she introduced her three daughters to was on the very southern tip of Long Island - Breezy Point was its name.

When she was a child, it was her 'home away from home' every summer, all summer long. Though we only got to glimpse her joy for about two weeks almost every summer, it was more than enough for my sisters and I to fall in love with the beach.















Mom and I, 1958
Mom and I, 1970
Beaches are my 'go to' spot for rest, deep rest and nothing beats a walk along the beach for just sorting the troublesome things out.

Virgin Gorda, BVI, 2016
Galapagos Islands, 2015 
Is it the salt air? The cry of gulls? The wash of water between my toes? The warm sand? Well, it's not just one thing, it's all of them. In desperate times, just the memories are enough to soothe my aches and pains. When that is not enough, there are the photos which bring with them times and places of tremendous beauty, serenity, and strength.

Come walk with me...

Cuba 2012

Galapagos, 2015

Galapagos 2015
Little Cayman, 2006
Abacos Islands, 2004
Galapagos 2015
Mexico 2018

Curacao 2009
Cuba 2012


ME! Breezy Point 1961
"Come walk with me, take off your shoes, let's walk the beach with only the moon to light the path and waves to hear you tell me you love me. Why does the ocean rock the moon to sleep every night? So the sun will wake and kiss the beach."
J. Henson

©2018 April Hoeller

4 comments:

  1. Breathtaking! Beautiful! Soothing post.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Marcy. The beach has so much to offer, even just thinking about it.
      Cheers!
      April

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  2. Beautiful photos...I grew up on the ocean in Massachusetts. It was a part of me. During my 20's & 30's, living in Florida, I spent a lot of time on the beach, especially with my children. Now, much older, I like to listen to the waves and seagulls, watch the pelicans and see the moon reflecting on the water's surface. But I'm no longer a fan of the salt & sand. Go figure!

    Donna B. McNicol|Author and Traveler
    A to Z Flash Fiction Stories|A to Z of Goldendoodles

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    Replies
    1. My Mom was a New Englander - a Connecticut Yankee, as she called herself. Her mother's family had the cottage at Breezy Point and so a family tradition of summers at the beach began. Sadly the cottage burned to the ground in Hurricane Sandy (2012). That was long after the family gave it up, sometime in the late 1970's as I recall.
      Cheers!
      April

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