The beach in July

We went to the beach again.

It's so strange, when everything has changed, 

to go somewhere you used to go in the past,

and be with people who were with you in the past,

though not all of them,

yet the ones who are there were yours

--most of them--

even if now you rarely get to see them,

but there they are

--for a spell--

in this beautiful and oddly familiar place

of memories.

First sight of the ocean from the boardwalk 

never fails to thrill.

Men grilling steak 

over charcoal

under a house.

  

The dunes behind us.

The waves in front of us.

A day at the beach.

We saw multitudes of pelicans.

While we swam in the ocean, they glided so close

we could practically count their feathers.

Once a flock of fifty flew overhead.

It was a veritable festival of pelicans.

Two beloved daughters and a dad and a mom.

A wife and a husband.

The sisters, doing a hornpipe.

Clowning around.

Joy