Sunday, December 29, 2019

Half Moon Bay



We spent the afternoon yesterday at Half Moon Bay. It was a Saturday morning and we had had a slow start to the day. I remarked to my husband that I'd like to go to the beach and to Half Moon Bay in the afternoon, since our last few trips had been to Santa Cruz and I wanted a change. I envisioned us doing a walk along the trail that runs by the coast and spending a little time on the beach afterwards.

We did just that, and it turned out to be an amazing day. We decided to let our baby take his morning nap before heading out, and took the time to get packed and ready. We even had an early lunch at home so that we would not have tired, hungry kids when we reached there and were looking for a place to eat.  By the time we left our drive way, it was a quarter to one! No worries, we reached in good time in under an hour.

We walked from Dunes beach to Miramar beach along the paved trail. It was simply gorgeous. There were a lot of walkers and bikers on the trail. Our toddler had a blast running around in all directions and being free. Our daughter enjoyed riding her scooter and stopping at everything that caught her fancy. My husband and I took in the fresh ocean air and views and felt energized and uplifted by our walk.

We stopped by a tree that had very low branches that we could climb on and sit on. We also stopped to pick a few leaves and flowers along the way, a favorite pastime of my daughter's. When we reached Miramar beach, we were pleasantly surprised to see our favorite cafe had re-opened. We enjoyed coffee and coconut macaroons at Ebb Tide Cafe, basking in the sunshine with gorgeous views at the table outside that was right at the ocean front.

We walked back to our car after this and I fed and entertained our baby in the car while my daughter and husband did a short trip down to the beach for her to play in the sand. She built her customary sand castle and was satisfied with her sand play. She would have liked to have played in the sand longer, but we felt that with the weather it was perfect for us all to enjoy a walk. Spending hours on the beach running after a toddler and preventing him from eating sand just wears us all down and gets us tired and irritable. We decided to do something more manageable and that we'd all enjoy and need to make this a priority again.

I also enjoyed the drive because it was an occasion for my husband and I to talk while our kids slept on the way back home. He had remarked several times that it was a perfect day, and while I agreed wholeheartedly, there was a nagging feeling of anxiety at the back of my mind that was saying 'what could go wrong now?'. The day was so beautiful, in fact, that everything slowed down and I could almost see it playing out in slow motion. I was taking in the beauty of the place, the warm rays of the sun, and the crisp ocean air. The combination of the walk and a few sips of coffee had me feeling physically invigorated and mentally relaxed. But anxiety reared its ugly head again saying 'This is how we remember days when bad things happened right? We remember every second of them and they usually start out beautiful'. It was a relief the next morning, when I could actually mark this day as having been 'perfect'! I am also proud of myself for expressing the part about the anxiety out loud to my husband instead of internalizing it, and also for being able to observe my own feelings without getting sucked into them (which is what I try to do during meditation). While these were fleeting thoughts, I acknowledged them, verbalized them, and did not let them consume me. I still very much enjoyed myself, and I am proud of myself for it.



I love the song below, both the version by Ride and Robert Smith's version which was released to promote the 25th anniversary re-issue of Ride's album Nowhere.

While I didn't notice any vapour trails in particular, we did indeed have a deep blue sky that day.

Vapour Trail by Ride

First you look so strong,
Then you fade away.
The sun will blind my eyes;
I love you anyway.
Thirsty for your smile;
I watch you for a while.
You are a vapour trail
In a deep blue sky.

2 comments:

Loretta Sayers said...

Hello! I loved your post on HMB and have been there many times. An old favorite of ours.
Xx,
Loretta

Del Dot said...

Thanks, Loretta! It's nice hearing from a fellow CA resident and that you've enjoyed HMB too. One of my favorite trips there was in the midst of a heavy downpour during the late afternoon/early evening time. It was a magical experience.

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