jchrisobrien: (cute)
jchrisobrien ([personal profile] jchrisobrien) wrote2004-06-09 11:57 am

Hot times

If you're in Boston, I don't need to tell you about the weather today, and you probably don't want to hear about it anyway. For those of you not in Boston, we've just gotten a taste of what to expect for the summer.

It's not thinking weather. As soon as you step outside, your lizard brain kicks in. Forget about degrees, education, even speech. All you want to do is find a rock somewhere to lie on, soak up the heat, and gain any little amount of comfort you can from that hot breeze. What a tease. You want the wind to be cooling. You want a break from the relentless heat. What you end up with is hot air pushed over your skin, pressing down on it.

The heat isn't all bad. In fact, it's far from a horrible day. Sure, hot weather like this lends itself to a torpid state. It puts a damper on intimacy too; being hot and sticky sounds like fun, but the reality is anything but. The heat does unlock the door of memory too. I walked outside to get a feel for the heat, and to crack my windows so my car wouldn't slow roast me on the drive home. I didn't feel like I was at work when I walked back to the office. I felt like I was on the beach, in the Outer Banks perhaps, or Beach Haven, NJ. I smelled the salt water air, heard the cries of gulls, the distant dull incessant noise of the sea. It was a reminder as well of the pull of the outdoors. You can stay inside you all you want during the winter, but there's a world out here to play in. Feel the sand between your toes. The salt water drying on your skin.

It's a damn shame that my folks aren't going to the Outer Banks this year. I likely couldn't have joined them anyhow, due to lack of vacation time. But eventually I will have vacations again. I want to return to the Outer Banks, or somewhere like them. I want a bunch of my friends to make the trek with me. I want a long week of throwing Frisbees, being paranoid of sharks, cool drinks and hot grilled food. I want to watch a storm pummel the sky and split the heaves above me. I want addled nights of laughter and debauchery, and transcendent mornings watching the sun birthed out of the ocean.

Let it be so.

sharks? what sharks?

[identity profile] debbie.livejournal.com 2004-06-09 12:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Aw, you're making me regret not meeting up with you last year! Mike and I are going to be at Sunset Beach Aug 21-29 with the fun side of my family. Delta now offers nonstop jet flights to Myrtle Beach on the weekends for $250.

Re: sharks? what sharks?

[identity profile] silas7.livejournal.com 2004-06-11 06:17 am (UTC)(link)
Are those beaches close together? I've never been to Myrtle Beach. Perhaps a goal for next summer is dragging a bunch of people there. Or to the Cape, if that's easier.

Re: sharks? what sharks?

[identity profile] debbie.livejournal.com 2004-06-11 06:33 am (UTC)(link)
Myrtle is a run-down strip that wants to be Atlantic City. However, it does have an airport that is 45 minutes from real beaches.

You should definitely drag some people to the Cape. I still need to see P-town and either Nantucket or M.V. I hope to go in March of next year.

Re: sharks? what sharks?

[identity profile] silas7.livejournal.com 2004-06-11 06:52 am (UTC)(link)
I saw P-town (briefly) after a secret rave on the beach a few summers ago. I was blearily impressed by the narrow winding streets. I also remember pulling my head back together in the bathroom there. "Maintain...maintain..."

Re: sharks? what sharks?

[identity profile] debbie.livejournal.com 2004-06-13 05:09 pm (UTC)(link)
hardcore.

beachy keene

[identity profile] loxocele.livejournal.com 2004-06-09 12:23 pm (UTC)(link)
ohhh....i want an ocean beach with soft sand and a soft breeze. and a big flat smooth rock for lizarding. and a hammock for lounging, and a few pleasant trees. and *no person-biting bugs*. and some books and maybe a little portable music player and a miraculous cooler that keeps tasty beverages cold and the fantastic ability neither to burn nor tan while running around Bare Ass Naked. and i want no other people for at least a 10 mile distance. or maybe pete can come the second day, but the first ones aaaaaaaaaaaall mine. *g*


instead i burn within 10 minutes of stepping outside [30-45 if i pregrease with spf 30 stick] and am woefully broke and unemployed....but i do have a pretty water-looking background on my comouter - and after i go out and get photoshop, maybe i can make my beach too ;)

Re: beachy keene

[identity profile] silas7.livejournal.com 2004-06-11 06:20 am (UTC)(link)
The beaches are free, it's the getting there that's costly! Perhaps you could be a later afternoon beach goer. The rocks will still be warm from the sun, you'll have spectacular sunsets to look forward too, and all the excitement of running around on the beach at night. It's easier to run around BAN that way, too.

[identity profile] mrfph.livejournal.com 2004-06-10 10:42 pm (UTC)(link)
hey...did you get the cd i sent you??

[identity profile] silas7.livejournal.com 2004-06-11 05:58 am (UTC)(link)
I absolutely did. It's been in my CD player lately at the gym, which I haven't been too in a week and a half due to my wonky back. It's getting better though, I may try returnin this Sunday. I'm going to try dancing tonight first, and see how it holds up!

PS- It's a pretty awesome CD.