Curveballs and Coastlines

I recently experienced a significant life change that impacted me a great deal. What had been one of the best parts of my entire life, something that brought joy to my heart and peace to my soul, was suddenly gone in the blink of an eye. Poof! GONE.

When something like that happens it can be incredibly unsettling. As a generally optimistic person (perhaps not including much of 2020, but I digress), I wasn’t convinced it really WAS gone. Surely this is just temporary right? How could something that had been so natural, so pure and beautiful for so long, be gone in a FLASH? I didn’t know what kind of alternate reality I was living in but I convinced myself that there was no way the Universe would ultimately let this happen.

Ya know…..sometimes the Universe has the last laugh.

After a few days of trying to wrap my head around this painful curveball, I started to get some perspective. “Perspective”….what a beauty of a word. Getting a new perspective on life’s challenges can open our ears to what the Universe is telling us, and what I heard it telling me in no uncertain terms was “Mike! Go to the coast man!” Okay it didn’t sound exactly like that and it wasn’t Morgan Freeman’s voice but I heard it. It was ON.

Oddly enough, I don’t recall ever setting out for the coast just by myself, with no plans to meet up with anyone and no agenda (you’d think I’d been living in a cave or sumthin’!). The thought of just being alone at the beach, toes in the sand and drink in hand and taking in nature’s beauty, soon became quite liberating. It was a last-minute trip and I asked a friend who lives in the area what might be a good beach that didn’t get too crowded. He said “Seacliff is always nice.” Without doing any research on my own, I took him at his word. He’s a local, surely he knows right?

It’s not that he was wrong. Seacliff State Beach in Aptos, CA is a little slice of heaven, as is Rio Del Mar, Capitola, and the entire Santa Cruz area. My initial impression after pulling into the parking lot and walking to the cliff’s edge to have a look was….holy crap it’s crowded! Who ARE these people and what are they doing on my beach? Alas, it was a beauuutiful late-September Saturday, of course there would be throngs of people. No worries, I was ready to claim my spot in paradise.

There was only one access point, a looong downward, winding slope. Carrying my chair, tote bag and cooler, it was a great workout…right up until I realized I had forgotten something in the car and had to trek back up. Ha! After getting to the bottom again and finding the perfect spot, I took a look around. The cliff runs the entire length of the beach and it’s simply stunning. Accented by the clearest blue sky that day and a tiny body of water known as the Pacific Ocean and hey…..I started to think the Universe might be onto something here.

Within a few minutes of settling in, a large group of youths, early 20’s, hunkered down on my immediate right. There were about a dozen of ’em, guys and girls, and they had a big cooler of adult beverages. Hey kids, alcohol is prohibited at the beach ya know! (which is why I brought a water bottle to pour my own beverages into). They were oblivious but good-natured and I was just glad to be in my spot. Cheers guys.

After an hour or so of just taking it all in, it was time for a stroll. I made a long loop from the rear of the beach down to the the water’s edge and just froze. The waves were breaking hard, the tide was coming in fast and the water was beautifully clear. I thought about jumping in and taking a quick swim to the horizon and back, but decided that would be best for another day. I must have stood there and gazed at everything for a good 45 minutes, just stunned at how beautiful it was, how perfect the weather was and how glad I was to be there. For the first time in weeks, I felt peace.

As the day wore on I became glad to be sitting near “the kids.” They spread out and were tossing a frisbee around, laughing, playing some tunes and just having a good ol’ time. Man, to be young like that again. Their music was old school – Zeppelin, Seger, Deep Purple. Given how young they were, I was just glad they weren’t blasting Justin Beiber or anything and told them I liked their playlist. Suddenly an errant frisbee toss was headed towards me and I made a one-handed snag, which they got a big kick out of. One of the guys later commented to the rest of them about a hotel he had recently stayed at that had a mirror on the ceiling. I couldn’t help myself: “Was there a sign that said ‘Objects are larger than they appear?’ Rauckus laughter. They asked me to take a group pic of them before they left, then as they walked off, one lad said “You’re pretty cool for an old dude. The Giants suck though!” (I was wearing one of my SF Giants hats). I said “Easy there son, those are fighting words!” They laughed as they walked off to resume the rest of their lives. Thanks for being part of my day guys, have a great life. Make good choices! 😉

My neighbors to my left then asked me to take a group pic of them as they were leaving, saying that I was now the “official beach photographer.” Hahaha my pleasure. Then it was time for another stroll, more gazing, more bewonderment. The sun started setting and the sky became an incredible fusion of orange, pink and red, while the foam on the waves took on a purple hue from the sky’s reflection as the waves came crashing ashore. Ahhhhh, a caveman could get used to this.

What was initially a last-minute trip ended up giving me much more than expected. The next time you find yourself struggling with any of life’s curveballs, I highly recommend getting away to someplace scenic and serene by yourself. It won’t necessarily provide any answers, but if you’re lucky…you just might find some peace.