late save

It was a steamy day, but thunder rumbled constantly, and it seemed it would rain any moment for most of it. Finally the storm broke over us in late afternoon, cooling everything down rapidly but leaving within an hour.

After supper, it seemed as if all the drama was over, so I suggested a walk to the beach. The children were excited to get out, especially when they all came running back in, shrieking, announcing that it was raining again (or perhaps just still raining, after all.) Who cares? I asked, and they were stunned: We can go in the rain?

Yes, yes. We walked in the gentle rain. About three-quarters of the way there, we saw an extraordinary double rainbow. I acutely felt the inadequacy of my camera.


We arrived at the beach and the children immediately went wading, while I was attacked by gnats as I tried to find some vantage point from which I could get the entire rainbow in one photo. The water was so warm the kids were begging me to let them go home and change into their bathing suits so they could return and go swimming, but I nixed that idea: too buggy at the little beach.

The big beach, however...

We got home as quickly as possible, and got approval for the somewhat crazy idea from my sister-in-law. We all changed into our suits and piled into the car with our towels. On a school night, my kids would've already been in bed, but this is summer. The waves were disappointingly small, but the water was delightfully clear, if a bit cool. OK, we did feel cold on the way in, less so on the way out since the air was about the same temperature as the water. We all traipsed far out on the sandbar and watched the sunset, and I regretted leaving my camera at home.

We weren't the only people at the beach -- there was one couple there, perched on the boulders surrounding the parking lot, snuggling. I'm sure we completely ruined their romantic interlude, but hey, it's a public beach. There was much whooping and hollering and exclaiming about the coldness of the water and the general awesomeness of being on the beach, at night, with no one else around, the sunset sky a gorgeous array of colors, and the first stars peeking out overhead as the cloud cover broke up.

We left the beach about 9:45PM, and of course everyone had to have a hot bath or shower to get both clean and warm; nice hot drinks were made for those waiting their turn, and everyone was beyond exhausted by the time they finally got to bed.

Sometimes, even the longest, dreariest days can play out wonderfully.