A Day at the Beach Celebrating Summer's End

 

Ever since our oldest was entering kindergarten, I've taken our sons to the beach for the day shortly before school starts. Today, for the eleventh year, I continued the tradition. It was a spectacular day, and hard to imagine Hurricane Irene had pounded this beach and boardwalk just days before. The air was crystalline. 

Joining us in Asbury Park were my girlfriend Judy, her 12-year-old son, and a friend of my 11-year-old. We spent hours playing in the waves. I had to nudge the boys out of the water at lunchtime.

 Nothing like Philly cheesesteaks and Jersey hot dogs to refuel.

 

 Most moving of all were riding the ocean waves, 

digging in the sand and contemplating the wonders of the world we've been given.

"In all that awakens within us the pure and authentic sentiment of beauty, there, truly, is the presence of God. There is a kind of incarnation of God in the world, of which beauty is the sign. Beauty is the experimental proof that incarnation is possible." Simone Weil