A day at the beach brings out our inner child

Beach season.  Hot afternoons, warm evenings and cool, refreshing water.  Since my family and I moved to Grand Coulee last winter, I had been enticed by the promise of lazy, warm days on the beach.  Almost every afternoon since those promised warm days have arrived my daughter and I load on the sunscreen and head to the beach for some fun in the sun.  As the water in Lake Roosevelt rose and pushed the beachgoers into a small crescent of shore, people watching became one of my most interesting summer activities. 

I found as the summer season progressed that people seem to undergo a transformation when they get to the beach.  Except for young children, people of all ages seem to shed some level of conformity when their feet hit the sand.  It seemed to me that the toddlers and younger children were the only ones acting predictably: up to their necks in sand and inquisitively exploring their surroundings.  I saw teenagers building sandcastles and parents playing with their children.  Grown men and women were swaying joyfully on the swings.  We bare our imperfect bodies in bathing suits that in any other setting would be considered scandalously inappropriate.  It was almost as if everyone was so far out of their normal, everyday element that predictable behaviors didn’t apply.

It was the teenagers who first caught my eye.  Rarely do you see a child past the age of 12 simply playing.  Is it the absence of other entertainments that allow them to enjoy the things they used to as younger children?  Combating boredom is an effortless thing these days.  There are cell phones, social networking sites, email, computer games, video games and possibly, if you’re lucky, a book or a school sport.  In the absence of these possibilities, it seems as if the imagination rose from the ashes, and before you know it, there they were: conducting a sand castle competition, swimming out to the dock and swinging on the swings.

As I watched the rest of us join ranks with the young children, it made me wonder what it is about the beach that brings out the child in all of us.  If we were all half as active as we are at the beach, America wouldn’t have such an obesity problem.  If we interacted with our children as much on a daily basis as we do at the beach, perhaps there wouldn’t be as many problems in our schools.  It’s almost as if a day at the beach grants us the same freedom as a vacation does.  On vacation some of our everyday comforts are stripped away, leaving us the time and attention to focus on activities that are simply for pleasure.

I think being at the beach reminds us on a very deep level of being one of those sand covered kids we see at the beach today.  It reminds us that simply getting dirty and playing, then jumping in the cold water to rinse off is a rush of simple joy that is deeply satisfying. 

For much of my childhood I lived in a beach town.  My summer afternoons and weekends were spent in the sand and the sun playing with my parents and little friends I would meet down by the water and then forget the next day.  I grew up hearing stories about my brother and I purposefully throwing our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the sand, picking them up and eating them merrily.  This summer, I watch my daughter eating a sandy nectarine and know that if we were at home and she ate something that dirty, I would be appalled.  But at the beach, there’s much that we do outside of our comfort zone and regular day activities.  And you know, I think I like it.

Previously published in "The Star," Grand Coulee, Washington. August 24, 2011

Summer softball satisfies

Like many Americans, summer, for me, is synonymous with baseball.  All my life I’ve been a baseball fan.  Some of my brightest memories as a child are sitting in the stands with my dad at Dodger Stadium.  My brother and I would drag along our mitts with the full expectation that if a foul ball came our way, by golly, we were going to catch it.  We would order a legendary foot-long Dodger dog and let my dad finish most of it as we’d already moved on to the Cracker Jacks and peanuts.  At that age it was mostly about the food and spending a fun night under the bright lights with my dad, but when I think about those magical nights now I know a lifelong love was forming. 

When I moved to Grand Coulee and heard about a summer softball league, I was eager to play.  There is something wholesome and carefree about playing baseball on a hot summer night.  It also takes some guts.  Not everyone played sports in high school and not everyone is blessed with superior hand-eye coordination.  I played sports in high school, but unfortunately the superior hand-eye coordination skipped me over.  One of my biggest lessons of the summer was that just because you love something, doesn’t mean you know how to do it.  Putting theory into practice is a difficult thing.

This year the Grand Coulee summer softball league had over 180 players in the league.  I roundly applaud all teams and all players.  It’s not always an easy thing to make room in a busy schedule to get outside simply for the fun of it.  There are commitments to juggle, mitts to find, injuries to nurse, kids to take care of, lawns to mow and countless other justifications.  Yet still people came out every week to play with their team to have fun, get some exercise, meet new people and possibly win a game or two. 

Based on what I saw on the field this summer, I would say most teams landed somewhere in between “just out to have fun” and “out to win,” but I think all teams had the intention of doing both.  As an athlete most of my life, I’ve always had a healthy competitive spirit.  In fact, I think most people do; everyone likes to win.  With that in mind, was it possible to simply “have fun” playing softball?  If you are competitive, even in the slightest degree, is it possible to have fun if you are losing?   At what point does competitive spirit become a disadvantage to having fun?

I’ve always believed that competitive spirit is a great attribute to have.  It can inspire you to do better than you thought you could, motivate you to push harder and encourage you to continue when you thought you were through.  Perhaps, as with many things, there is simply some give and take.  For the sake of something that is strictly for fun, competitive spirit is great as long as it allows you to be a good sport, lose gracefully, and still enjoy your night. 

I also fervently hope that there is a way to be competitive without seriously injuring ourselves.  This season in the Grand Coulee softball league there were many minor and some major injuries.  Is it necessary to slide into base when we are just out here to have fun?  Even the best slides will probably result in a scrape and some bruising.  And occasionally, a bone is broken. 

It may be the end of the softball season but it doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be the end of getting outside and playing in the sun with our friends and neighbors.  And who knows, maybe that carefully cultivated competitive spirit will come in handy again next year.

Previously published in "The Star," Grand Coulee, Washington. August 10, 2011