CRANKY ON THE BEACH
Two days of
cold and fog have finally let up and I can escape the confinement of our small
apartment by the beach. Our apartment is
not tiny, but we have three sons, a daughter-in-law and two Pa. Crankettes
sharing this two bedroom abode. My
daughter and the NC Crankettes left for their home yesterday.
I went on
the beach to watch my oldest boys surf.
This must be one of the most difficult sports in the world to
learn. You wait and wait for the right wave to try and ride and the beginner gets knocked on his ass every time. So you get up, paddle out and wait some more
only to get knocked on your ass again.
Each time you get knocked on your ass you learn something, but it seems
like it takes forever to get the hang of it.
(Observation only, Cranky don't do that!)
(Observation only, Cranky don't do that!)
One thing I
learned watching my oldest two sons who are 39 and 36 years old is you never stop
worrying about your kids.
What if they
get knocked out?
What if
there is a shark?
What if they
get too tired to paddle back in?
What if?
What if? What if?
What you do
learn as your kids get older is to not voice your fears.
Anyway.
These two
have not been surfing for that long, even though Mike now lives in Santa
Monica, Ca. and surfs often and Matt spends most of the summer in North
Wildwood, NJ. They are just good enough
to scare me.
Another
interesting thing is even while these two are grown men; they can still act like
little kids. When they come to shore
they both ask,
“Did you see that Dad?”
I of course
revert to proud papa,
“Yeah, that was really good!”
Tomorrow I
will get Spencer, 15, a wet suit (the water is 59 degrees) and see if his big
brothers can give him a lesson. He has
gotten up before, but it was a while ago.
Meanwhile.
Surfing sons
were not the only thing I was observing on the beach. Far out over the water I saw an Osprey dive
towards the water, stop, and laboriously wing his way up and up. As he sailed over my viewpoint on the beach I
could see he had successfully nabbed a six inch bunker. I have watched the Ospreys all week, this is
the first time I’ve seen one catch a fish…talk about patient fishers.
Later I saw
what at first I thought was a sandpiper, fly to the water’s edge and skillfully run up and down
digging for sand crabs. This was like no
sandpiper I have seen before, and as an amateur birder I had to run to my
computer and look him up.
It was an
American Oystercatcher. They were almost
wiped out in the nineteenth century because of egg poachers in this area of the
country.
If I had a
really good camera and the skills of a certain Texas lady http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/
I would show you what I saw, but instead
I will cheat and steal photos from the internet of these two birds.
Osprey flying directly overhead with
his catch
An American Oystercatcher…A first for
me!
Did you see that Dad?
ReplyDeletesigh and sniff
Despite being a native Californian, with fairly decent beach access in my youth... and having been in Hawaii for some time in the early sixties, I only learned how to catch a wave.
ReplyDeleteI never quite mastered the art of staying on the board.
It is difficult watching your kids do anything where they could potentially get hurt. I used to be neurotic just watching them play on the swings and Jungle Gyms. So glad they have out grown them.
ReplyDeletebwahaha on my photography skills - but thanks for the shout-out!
ReplyDeletewould love to see an osprey and an oystercatcher in person!
Ah surfing, something I've tried and completely failed at many times - it looks like one of those things (like playing the piano) that I should just be able to DO!!
ReplyDeleteThis one really struck a cord in me. Our son is 33 and he's constantly saying things like, "Hey Dad, check out my new car!" This kid has had forty cars already. But you're right; as parents we never stop worrying about them but we do learn to keep our mouths shut.
ReplyDeleteSeeing what less common birds do is amazing. I have seen haws and eagles catch small prey along the freeway. Better than an entire meadow, I suppose. Narrows the focus. I've seen peregrine falcons sitting on freeway lamp standards. A first there. And an owl on a transmission line one morning. Not your usual sparrow or robin.
ReplyDeleteComments from my family have gone from "Watch me, Mommy!" to "Did you see that, Grandma?" to "Tell Grandpa what I did when he wakes up!"
ReplyDeleteOh so that's an oystercatcher! Have always wondered what they were!
ReplyDelete"you never stop worrying about your kids." You got that right! Enjoy the Fourth.
ReplyDeleteJust about the time I began to relax and exhaled over my kids wellbeing, along come grandkids and it all starts over again. Face it, it's just what parents/grandparents do.
ReplyDeleteS
Sigh. Now I will worry about your boys surfing.
ReplyDeleteThose birds are way different than anything we have around here. I misread the Osprey, and thought Oprah was diving. My first thought was, "When did she leave Chicago for the Jersey Shore?"
I passed to active Osprey nests which fishing off of Cape May today. Slow motion photos of the Osprey fishing are even more amazing. The naked eye cannot see what the camera catches!
ReplyDelete