I've written about my beach before, it's actually known to the rest of the world as Bradley Beach in New Jersey. I'm going to miss it when I'm in Colorado. There is something especially soothing about the waves as they break against the shore, and while I have a hour long recording on CD I made a while back, it's only part of it.
In the interests of reaching a point in my life in the not terribly distant future when I can contribute to the "Our Stories, Our Lives" project Donna Rose has mentioned on her blog, I picked up a halfway decent HD MiniDV Cam. The Flip while nice, just wasn't blowing my skirt up, I wanted a bit more. Anyway, today was simply perfect weather, and I made a beeline for the beach after I had lunch with a friend.
Honestly, I'm very connected to this beach at a kinda deep level. It speaks to me, it has as all beaches do, there is something powerful, visceral even about a beach. A powerful and yet soothing confluence of earth, sea, and sky. In many different disciplines, including Wicca, it's refered to as the zero point.
Simply put, it's all this latent and powerful energy there, as the four elements of nature come together in one place, in something of a balance. Earth, Air, Fire and Water all in one place. Standing there in that mix of energy and allowing myself to "Tune in, turn on, and drop out" of my daily problems. Meditation you know!
So anyway, I wanted something more than a bagful of sand, jar of salt water and a CD. HiDef DVD of my beach, well now that's a keepsake! So, I "broke in" my new camera and filled up an hour long digital video tape which in the next few days I'll burn onto DVD and have for as long as I want to keep it around. I'll also be able to use some of the footage I shot as a background for upcoming vblog entries I'm going to make. So it'll work out nicely.
Plus, having a reason to spend several hours in the sun at the beach wasn't such a horrible thing either. One of these days I'll get up to Hampton and Rye beaches in NH, Salsbury, Gloster, and Rockport in MA, and York and further north in Maine. Spent many, many days, weeks and more there, and love them as much. Some of my greatest moments have been spent on that part of the Atlantic coastline, there's also Virgina Beach that I need to get back to one day.
Ironically enough, Bradley Beach in Jersey is the first (and so far only) beach I've been swimming at. Over 40 years old, spent my life around water, and decades mediating along the shoreline, but it was only three years ago I finally did anything more than wade in up to my ankles. Three years ago I finally swam in the ocean for the first time... Since then, it's been hard to get me out of the water. I missed the 2006 swim season healing from surgery, but more than made up for it in 2007. This was the beach that took my ocean cherry so to speak, and so it's important to me.
Now, I've got some of it preserved in digital video! When I get it moved off tape, I'll put some of it here. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the glow!
4 comments:
Oh when you plan on the NH run you'll have to let me know you're here and we'll meet up....
I can do that. Probable won't be for a little bit yet, but it will happen, after all I have a ten by ten storage locker full of stuff in NH waiting for me to come home.
To be honest, one day I'd like to move back, and I've been trying to for four years now. Just isn't quite working out right at the moment, so it's back to Denver I go. Honestly, it would be cheaper in the long run to move back to NH than Denver, because I wouldn't have to take the stuff in the locker out to Denver...
Time will tell. I miss NH, MA, VT and ME, but right now I can't afford a place that isn't in the middle of no-where.
So no worries, I'll be back out on of these days, and I'll be sure to let you know. I can hear the Common Man just calling to me, along with any number of other places I miss. Ever been to the diner in Manchester that has the most amazing burgers? It's regularly reviewed as some of the best burgers in New England. Ever have a Lawton's hot dog?
Four years ago I lost 80 pounds in the Rockingham Mall... Regrettably it found me again, but I'm going to lose it in the mountains in Denver this summer. Bought three new cars in the number one Chrysler dealer in Manchester a bunch of years back. Still have one of them...
I miss the whole area... And there is stuff in the storage locker I will not soon part with. Like my wedding album and video. Walking along the Merrimack river, shoping in Kittery, Conway, Tilton, The Common man and so much more.
Yeah, NH is part of my soul, so I'll be back...
You speak of every part of my life. Lawtons!! I grew up RIGHT down the St from them and used to eat them often. When my brother from Cali came for the firs ttime and I asked where he wanted to go the firs tplace was Lawtons .. He had heard so much about it
Id the diner you're referring too the "Red Arrow" diner
http://www.redarrowdiner.com/
Yup we go there for breakfast every so often. I love their Kielbasa and eggs!!
The Chrysler dealer, if that is Autofair then they sold the Chrysler part off to a different dealer. We bought our 1 PT cruiser from them!!
The Rockingham mall .. it's going upscale now. They are trying to compete with Burlington ...
Sounds like you are fond of a lot of the things that I love about living here. Every so often I think about taking my transition to another part of the country so it can be about me and not the people around me. Saldy i have a hard time saying good bye because I'm such a New England girl at heart...
Common man~ There's a rumor that the common man will build a new building right down the ST and that will become an Italian Farmhouse. For a long time they had a little sticker on the menu that announced a closing because of the RT 93 expansion project but that seems to have changed ...
When was the last time you were home?
Karyn
So before I left New England, I was living less than a tenth of mile from the TechSchool on River Road in Andover. Lawtons was a regular stop of mine! I love their hotdogs!
Yes, yes, yes! That was the name I was looking for, the Red Arrow! Love that place! Yeah, their food, breakfast, lunch and dinner is great!
Then of course there is a littering of "Just Sals" pizza places that for my taste, are some of the best in New England. Then again, I've always prefered real NY style pizza...
Rockingham going upscale? What is this world coming to? Is the Fenway Franks place still there? I have some fond memories of eating franks and watching the playoffs that lead to the big win! So cool!
Fond of New England? Me? Oh yeah, fond and more!, I'll always be a New England girl at heart. The Big E, Pop's on the half shell, the Regata, Shopping in the North End, Shaw's and Star Market's, Mount Washington, The Lakes Region, and so much more...
I had a hard time coming down to Jersey, and getting ready to head back out to Colorado, which is also part of my heart and soul, is hard because I'll be so much further away from New England. Yes, so much to love about New England, and having basically grown up there I know one day I'll be back. Plus I can only go so long before my need for Fall in New England eats away at me.
RT93 Expansion? It goes clear up to Canada, where are they going to take it from there? I remember sitting in the cold waiting for just the right light to capture the Old Man in the Mountain on film before it was lost to us. Are they still debating what to do with that?
When was the last time I was home? Very briefly in December when I went to put some stuff back into the storage locker. I'd planned on making it an overnight but stayed a couple days longer to play in the snow. It was the only real snow I saw this year.
Oh, it just dawned on me, there was talk of making 93 wider from the stateline in Salem up to Manchester, that would be a wonderful thing! SO needed!
Speaking of NH, ever been to the Victory Supermarket in Derry? Oh my god! Second only to Wegmans, but then there is the fact that Victory is, or was, identical in layout to Wegmans stores, which is just awesome!
Memories...
Sam
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