GOOD TIMES... Summer (Part 70g)

Unfortunately, Sunday was a mirror image of Saturday. The clear skies, bright sun was NOT what my sunburned face and arms needed. I vowed to spend as much time as I could working under the shadow of the house. Because Jay and Albert were going to be at the landfill right when it opened it meant that I would be at the site by myself for a while. I’d not done much “exploring“ of the property so took the opportunity to do so. As I’d already written, every available lot on the ocean side of the road had a house built on it. The other side was sparsely populated with much of the land (sand) covered with beach grass called phragmites. Fully matured it can grow to a height of fifteen to twenty feet and becomes quite dense. That was the case at that time. During the Nor'Easter, when the ocean waters rose high enough to go over the dunes and onto the road it needed a place to escape and the grass pretty much blocked its movement. So, it found the only place it could and that was where houses had been built on the other side of the road (to the North). That meant that the water's force was accelerated by the narrow (comparatively) semi open space where there were houses. I could see that at least four feet of sand had been ripped from under the house we’d been working at. The owner had cut about a ten for wide path through the phragmites to the bay just to the North and built a small dock out into the bay.

As I followed the path the width was more like 30 feet by the fact that the grasses had been beaten down by the force of the water. Once the flowing ocean water reached the bay it slowed down and the sand that had been carried in it dropped as it did. The result was a nice, sandy beach. As I stood there looking at it I had to laugh because I could see the tops of the spiles (poles) of the dock poking through the surrounding sand. There was no way to get a boat up the dock any more. Having the time to think about the whole situation it was another lesson in the way Mother Nature works.

I hadn’t really thought about all the miscellaneous trash that was strewn about. My focus had been primarily on the large debris such as doors, window frames, deck planking etc. As I walked back I took note of some of the things I saw partially buried in the sand. There were books, jars of food, shoes and other articles of clothing scattered all about. I saw this piece of polished wood partially concealed in the beaten down grass and went over to pick it up. It turned out to be a small jewelery box. I shook it and could hear things rattling around inside. I tried to open it but it was jammed. I surmised that having been buried in the wet sand the wood had swollen. It seemed unreal that it could have been carried the three plus miles from where the four houses had been demolished by the ocean waves.

When Jay, Jo and Albert arrived I saw that Jay had brought an extention ladder. We’d cleared enough debris away so that the ladder could be put up against the house by the back (North) door. The ladder, fully extended, barely made it to the door sill. Jay, having a key to the door, went on up and into the house. He asked if anyone else want to see it. I was never a ”ladder man“ and watching it bow as Jay climbed to the top, deferred. Jo made an attempt and with Albert and I holding the bottom we watched Jo climb about eight wrungs up. I hoped that she wouldv’e continued as, with her at that height I could see little slivers of white up the leg openings of her shorts. But she backed down.

After Jay climbed back to the ground and described the house, we went back to cutting up the big debris and Jo continued to pick up the small things. Because of the late start Albert and I only made one trip to the landfill by mid day. We loaded the two trucks for the second run and then broke for lunch. By then it wasn't just warm but it was downright hot. Jay was working without his shirt but, with my sunburn, I didn’t dare. I mentioned having found the beach and Jo was all for having a picnic on it. I’d spent enough time in the sun so wasn’t that keen on it but Jay said that maybe a walk in the water would be refreshing. We trudged on down and before Jo broke out the sandwiches we all took off our shoes and waded out into the water. Without saying a word Jay came out of the water and, turning his back on Jo, proceeded to take off his pants. He then walked back out into the water. Because of the massive amount of sand that had been deposited there the water was very shallow. Jay was probably 100 feet from the water’s edge and wasn’t even waist deep. Then he just flopped backwards making a big splash. He called for the rest of us to join him. I could see Albert was thinking about it but he was waiting for me to make a move. Jo was back sitting on the sand, laughing at the rest of us.

I have no idea why I was so shy in front of Jo but I didn’t want to do it. Albert finally committed, doing the same as Jay by turning his back on Jo as he dropped his pants and then sprinted into the water. Jay focused his attention on Jo trying to persuade her to go in the water. She kept shaking her head but with a big smile on her face. All of a sudden he was running up the beach towards her. He almost caught her but she escaped his grasp. I wasn’t willing to get undressed but I was certainly willing to help Jay in his pursuit of Jo. As she headed my way I jumped in front of her causing her to pull up allowing Jay to grab her around her waist. As he dragged her towards the water she was pleading to be released. Jay got her to the water’s edge and stopped. Then she made the mistake of making a comment that I didn’t really hear but the next thing I saw was Jo being carried out into the water and then being dropped into it. I actually thought that she’d be mad but she came up laughing, as usual.

My disappointment was that she’d worn dark blue shorts. VPL’s and dark material don’t work all that well. What was nice though was to see her blouse plastered against her bra. When they came ashore Jay tried to persuade her to take off her blouse and shorts so that they’d dry faster. With a smile on her face she just kept shaking her head in a negative manner. All in all it was a fun memory.

To be continued...