My Little Paradise
Throughout the years I have noticed how we all long for more, but that longing does not always fulfil us. We abuse technology and overdose on its new gadgets, creating greediness and causing us to forget the little things that are not little, but quite a big part of our lives, and once they are gone it seems as though a piece of you has vanished.
Every year when the word summer is whispered and escapes my lips, I cannot contain the joy. It pleases me knowing that there is one place, my home away from home, my small but quaint beach house located on a little street in Amagansett. I find that when the world changes this little house is the only thing that is constant. Modern tall houses fill every street, but as if stuck in some time warp, my little house seems to stay the same, and I like it that way. Sure, it is very old and out dated, the appliances discontinued, and the furniture is ages old, but I like it because it is close to the beach, it is peaceful, calm, and it is full of memories.
My grandmother bought the house a long time ago, and now since her family has grown, she shares it with my uncle, my aunt and my father. Since there are only so many days in summer and the house is small, only one family can be out at a time. We divide the summer, so each family gets a taste of the old fashion house, the little town, and the glorious sunset beach.
The ride out is always fun, sometimes we get up at the break of dawn other times, the afternoon traveling into the night. I enjoy the car ride seeing all the sights and towns, from big cities to old fashion quaint towns. My family will talk, sing, play games on the road, and sometimes sit in silence staring out at the road seeing the world change mile to mile.
By now, I have the path to our beach house memorized, knowing each turn, street, and house marking by heart. We pull into the rock-filled driveway, and step out of the car, the beach breeze blows through my hair. We haul our bags from the car into the house, every time I enter it has that certain smell and feeling that cannot be described but it is felt as comfort. My room is down the small tight hallway to the left, I split the room with my sister, granted it is not big, the walls a creamy white, and the beds have a cabbage patch flower pattern quilt on top. My favorite part of this room is the mirror and small table, with glass mermaids and seas shells all around. Ever since I was little, I would stare at this mirror with an old comb that has always been there. My grandma told me when I was little, “it was a comb used by mermaids to brush their magic hair” and though I am older I still like to pretend that when I look into the mirror I am a mermaid brushing my long hair, dreaming of the sea and the world to explore. Once we are unpacked, it’s usually the afternoon so we grab our towels and head to the beach, it’s about a 10 minute walk, but it’s always fun, skipping, jumping, singing, talking and laughing as we make our way there. The closer we get the louder the sound of waves crashing on the sand gets, excitement fills all of us, waiting to jump into the salty water and ride the waves in and out of the shore. We reach the boardwalk walking up it to the beach. Then we step on to the hot sand, sinking our feet into it. My sister and I run to the beach as fast as we can racing to see who gets to the water first. We run so fast, tripping over ourselves and when we get to the water it’s cold to the touch and we hesitate scared of the cold water, but gain courage and jump into its shimmering waves. When we get out, we dry off and challenge our parents to a traditional beach football game. It’s always me and my sister versus my parents, being the competitive person I am I take no time to think, I charge, blocking the passes my dad makes ( I must say it is very hard considering he is twice my size). A battle occurs and we are no longer friends battling to get a beach football, everything is on the line. Bumps and bruises latter we settle at a tie and continue our beach day. The next event is boogie boarding, traveling to our beach house would not be complete without boogie boarding. My sister and I grab our boards and head to the water; we take no time to hesitate we jump in with our boards in hand and trudge through the water to get to a big wave. Making sure we time it right, we turn and ride the wave to shore. We repeat this for hours riding, diving and sometimes being crashed by a wave causing a salty taste in our mouths and crazy beach hair. Nevertheless, it is so worth being crashed by the sea to ride that perfect wave. After, as we sit on the beach gazing into the sky’s borders watching the sun slowly fade from its intense yellow to its purple orange color, we know it’s time to pack up. When we reach the house, we all agree that tonight is Sam’s Pizza night, we change and drive our car into town, the sun has faded to night and the streetlights fill the town with light. We walk into Sam’s, order a regular pie and wait, as we talk about our day and enjoy a fun round of cards.
Our time out at our beach house could never be more fun, each day at the beach or on rainy days playing 5 hour monopoly. Each day as fun as the first, unfortunately we cannot stay forever, though we wish that this was all the time, and that is why it is so special. Our journey would not be complete without a classic bonfire and s’mores on the beach on our last night. With blankets rapped around us and our feet dug into the sand, watching the flames ignite and sending a sunset of colors through the night. We grab sticks and roast marshmallows over the fire, watching it burn some even catching on fire and we all start laughing as the other tries to blow it out. we talk and laugh as we savor the gooey s’mores and stare at the sky, looking at the stars glowing though the nights darkness as we find constellations, and if we are lucky we see a shooting star as we lay on the cold sand and become surrounded in what we believe is true paradise. The silence of the beach, the only sound the rhythmic crashing of the waves, not rushing anywhere not responding to messages, not worrying about tomorrow, we are living in stillness, the world stops and this is the time to think and enjoy. The next morning we pack the car and leave our little house, as we drive away it becomes smaller but the memories become bigger. As we are in the car, my dad asks me what the best part was and I say, “creating the memories that will forever live in my mind and heart.” then we drive away, not returning until next year and it is still the same little house, filled with wonderful memories, and a touch of paradise.
