I have to do the today prompt, beach, because I live at The Beach and work in a beach/tourist town.
Not right on the lake, a few blocks away, but that’s fine with me. I used to clean cottages on the lake which have beautiful views and sunsets but also cars and people all over you in the summer. And, much as I love Lake Huron, I always find it more restful when leave the beach, especially if there are big waves.
It’s not often wavy, however, as it’s shallow and sandy; perfect for kids and dogs. You have to walk way out before it gets even waist-high so you can safely let kids play at the water’s edge. Dog are allowed on the beach and I find people really good about keeping their dogs in check and picking up poop. There is no happier dog than a dog fetching a stick at the lake.
In the winter there is hardly anyone around; the occasional car or delivery truck goes by every few minutes. In the summer its constant traffic; sometimes I’m sitting at the end of my driveway waiting for chance to pull out.
Our beach is a ‘natural’ beach with not many stores, just chip wagons and a convenience store with the flags, inflatable beach toys and giant ice cream cones beckoning you to come in.
Grand Bend has all the bells and whistles; restaurants, funky clothing and beach wear, our grocery store. This year they moved the LCBO (booze store) beside us so traffic will be insane. I have to take the long way around town to get to work because the stop-and-go traffic through town in the summer is torture and I drive a standard. A half hour of dancing with the clutch and gears, hot weather and no air conditioning, wearing black polyester pants ……. a recipe for road rage.
And people actually do this at night for fun; drive the strip. Drive through town in stop-and-go traffic for an hour, then turn around and do it again. Mostly young people looking for other good-looking young people or older people wishing they were still young people.
It all begins soon; May 24th weekend, Victoria Day. Not many people know its Queen Victoria’s birthday, it’s known here as May Two-Four, named after the most popular case of beer.
We are gearing up at the store and dreading it. We go from a sleepy town of retired cottagers to mobs of vacationers invading our town, demanding food and entertainment.
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oops! I’ve just discovered this post sitting on my computer all morning, unpublished. Pardon any unedited errors, not uncommon on this blog, but I have to post and move on to get some things done before going into work.
This is my favourite photo our our beach. It’s taken on a Thanksgiving weekend that was very warm. We all took a walk on the beach after dinner.
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