Seaside bliss

Getting up this morning wanting to do something with my day, I decided to go for a walk down the beach. Having been off work now since the second week of May (I think), the days are just whizzing by and each one seems the 'same old same old'. It's a beautiful day with the large yellow blob in the sky permanently beaming, the sky is blue and finally, it seems we may be getting the long overdue summer weather we should be in July (and I've probably now jinxed the rest of the week)!

With only my ipod and house key, I headed out towards the beach at Thorpe Bay, which is barely ten minutes and two road's walk away if you take the shortest route. It was only 10:20 so all was fairly quiet. The sea was very calm, almost like a pond and just a handful of people wandering about. I couldn't tell whether the tide was coming in or not. I had an immense feeling of calm wash over me as I turned off my ipod and wandered along the shore on the pebbles, just listening to the sound of the water lapping up on the beach. I must say the scene looking around the bay towards the pier three miles in the distance made me sigh - aaah! I thought to myself actually how lucky I am to have been born and brought up in this area. Although parts of Southend are not what you call fantastic, I suppose it's like any other place where you have nice bits and horrible bits. The Thames Estuary it may be, but living on the coast certainly has its plus points. I feel for people who live in the middle of the country, places like Birmingham where you have to travel for hours to get to the coast. I'd hate that, but then again I suppose if you've known nothing else, it wouldn't bother you.

I sat on the pebbles for a while just breathing in the sea air - the English seaside which always has that hint of seaweed is one of the best smells in the world! I was thinking that I'd wished I'd brought my camera with me to capture the pleasantness I was seeing today so I decided to go back home, collect a few bits and return. I didn't have anything else planned so why not? A change of scenery always does you good.

I packed a bag containing a beach towel, book, banana, bottle of water and my camera. As the camera weighs a ton, I took the car this time - well I only drove half way and parked in a residential street to avoid the pay and displays. Once down the beach again, I was amazed how much it had filled up with families in the half an hour I'd not been there. Of course, it's the school holidays so people are going to make the most of the sunshine and take the kids down the beach. Still, I found a spot, relaxed and read my book. Just perfect! I could tell the tide was definitely coming in now and the water was not so calm. There's something about listening to the sound of water; people are always attracted to it whether it be waterfalls, rapids, babbling brooks, ponds or the sea. I am one of these people, although there's a big difference between watching it and being on top of it. I get so terribly ill on boats - I even feel nauseous on a lilo! Actually, just thinking about it makes me feel yuckie.

Whilst it wasn't quiet anymore, the sound of happy children is a lovely sound too. Seeing them filling their buckets with pebbles or water, digging holes and running to their parents when they've found a crab's claw just reminds me of when I was a child.

A threatening big grey cloud hovering somewhere between here and Kent on the other side of the estuary brought the wind up a bit and I decided to leave at that point (just in case). If it is nice all week, I think I will definitely go back for a couple of hours for the sake of getting out of the house.

So I suppose the moral of this story is to appreciate what is on offer right on your doorstep and USE IT!