recording time

I've really been wanting to go swimming lately. Ocean, or a really deep pool.  No lakes, no shallow water, please.

I miss spending summers in Ogunquit ME for this reason, and more.  From second grade through late high school my mom would rent a house or condo and we would go wreck havoc, get too much sun, dig up too many poor unsuspecting sea creatures, have too much ice cream, etc.

My favorite part of an annual 2 weeks at the beach was waiting all day long for tide that's weak enough to cross where the Ogunquit River dumps into the Atlantic. The photo below is the same beach, so it would be swimming from the background, where all the people are, to the rocky area in the foreground (except there was never a lifeguard).  If you were lucky enough to make it all the way across without chickening out or getting pushed back by the strong current, and if memory served you right, you could find the one big rock to climb to the tip of, and dive really deep into the water! Only one of the rocks led to a huge deep spot worthy of a dive, the other rocks were only jump or cannonball deep.  I can remember standing at the edge of the slippery rock, with barnacles cutting my toes and making them bleed, totally exhilarated and ready to plummet off the edge.  Once you closed your eyes and hit the water you could tell you did it right because it seemed so dark, behind your eyelids, and you could smell (sense? why would I be sniffing under water...) a strong tide pool smell.  You could dive and dive and dive into the salty water until you realized that you were almost screwed to get back to the other side of the ocean and had to swim with every bit of strength you had left to do so.  Yes, this is the beach where I got sucked out to sea many years ago.

I think the best part of the above water activity was returning to the rented house, and feeling wonderfully physically exhausted.  Arms, legs, core, and best of all lungs. I remember laying in the dark, waiting for sleep, but feeling that great internal rocking you can only experience after a day in the waves.

I stole the photos in this entry from this blog post I randomly found.  The pictures are great, a very clear representation of the town.

I HAD to include the following photo... because it reminded me of one of my first awkward/awesome life experiences.

If you ever visit OGT you will, doubtlessly, walk the Marginal Way- a walkable stretch of the Maine coast.  You can walk on the paved parts, or you can be badass and take the rocks! Anyways, one nice summer evening we decided to do a second Marginal Way walk in one day... I was sulking because I wasn't allowed to go crazy on the rocks and cliffs, nor was I allowed to run the crushed stone paths barefoot, per order of various adults that didn't want to waste time/prolong the walk/have a kid fall in the ocean.  In an attempt to make my evening more exciting and to really prove my sulky point, I ventured into each little outlet of the main path.  It was here, on this EXACT bench, that 9-year-old me (literally) stumbled upon a mid-twenties couple ridiculously going at it in the almost-dark.  Of course I muttered some jack-ass 'good-evening-kind-sir' remark, and ran away laughing entirely too loud.  Not much has changed.

I really wish I got to experience Ogunquit at my current age/place in life (really, I was going to say adult and then stopped myself...yikes!).  It is such a little peaceful seaside village, with so much low key art... it would have been the best place to spend some time gathering and putting together my thoughts.

If anyone actually reads this entry you get 10 points.  Really it was intended just to capture a few moments I love to look back on, before they flitted out of my mind again.  However, if you are still reading, you have no excuse not to want to go visit.  I'd be happy to provide you a list of things to check out!