Negative Nancy Sandy Pants

Blog soundtrack:





Earlier this week, I made plans with Suze to go to (where else!) Crane Beach today. Her daughter, Katie, was also going to come along.

When I woke up this morning, it was dark and gray outside. I thought to myself, "There's no way this is going to be a good beach day. I should call Suze to check if she still wants to go." Before I did so, I checked the weather. The icon for today was:



Well, in my neck of the woods, it was not partly sunny; no, it was mostly gloomy and hot as hades. Hey, I'd like to see an icon for that on http://www.boston.com/.

I called Suze. (Later in the day, Suze had told me that when she saw my cell number show up on caller ID on her cell that she said to Katie, "Uh-oh; it's Jean." And, I'm sure that was not an "Uh-oh, it's that crazy Jean girl!"; no, it was an "Uh-oh, crazy Jean girl might have second thoughts about going to the beach!")

I asked Suze if she thought we should still go. She hesitated and asked, "Well, do you still want to go?" I had a 5-second think, and I said, "Well, yeah." I thought the worst that could happen was that we'd drive the hour and twenty minutes to the beach while catching up on on life, it would down pour as soon as we paid our $5, and then we'd turn around and head to the mall or something like that. I then said, "I may be 10 or so minutes late. I'll pick you guys up in a bit."

When I arrived at her house, which is 20 minutes away from mine, the sky looked no better. She and Katie packed their cooler and beach bag in my trunk and off we went. And, just as I suspected, Suze and I caught up on life.

As we got closer and closer to Ipswich, the gloomy dissipated and gave way to sun and wispy clouds that floated in a white sky tinged with the faintest blue. I said in amazement, "Wow, I think it's going to be nice at the beach." (Of course, later in the day, I cursed that I didn't have my sunglasses, because I thought the sun would NEVER come out, and Suze yelled at me, "Negative Nancy!")

When we arrived at Crane, I panicked, because I had forgotten bug spray, thinking that the greenheads (nasty horse flies) would be out; however, the usual sign "Greenheads in season" wasn't posted, so we were safe.

We unloaded the car, trekked to a spot on the beach, and spread out our towels. It was humid, but there was a very nice breeze. We all had books to read. Suze had Shannon McKenna's "Out of Control", Katie had "Native Son", and I was still working on David Sedaris' "When You are Engulfed in Flames." Katie was the only one who got around to reading as Suze and I continued to catch up on life.

It was so hot that a dip in the 62 degree Atlantic was mandatory every 45 minutes or so. Each time I went down, I dove into the water. Suze said, "I went up to my shoulders!" I didn't blame Suze for not submerging herself; but, I was so hot, I didn't care what my hair ended up looking like. And, that's apparent from this picture!



A few times, I ventured down to the water on my own with my camera. Of course, I needed pictures and movies from the trip! Upon return to our beach blanket bunker, I sat on my towel and tried to review the pictures and videos I had taken.

Due to the sun, I threw my t-shirt over my head, began to review my spoils on my camera, and then I said out loud, "I'm really weird, aren't I?" Well, I was sitting there on the beach, looking at my camera, with a pink t-shirt over my head. For a moment, Suze didn't say anything. I thought, "Oh, good. She didn't hear that." Then 30 seconds later, she said, "Yeah, sometimes it makes me wonder why we're friends. I'm so normal, and sometimes I wonder if I bore you."

I said to her, "No, you have never ever bored me. Jeez, we've been friends since 1985. If you bored me, do you think we'd still be friends?" Friendships are interesting that way. While Suze and I are very different people, I think that each of us brings something to the other that completes us in a way that might not have been completed had we never met.

I then said, "Remember when you came to NYC with me for the vintage show?" She said, "Oh, that was so much fun. We should do that again!" I don't think she ever would have done a trip like that without me. And then, Katie mentioned something about sewing (Suze is a great seamstress), and I said, "Yeah, we need to schedule a Saturday or a Sunday in the Fall for a sewing lesson. You'll show me how to use my machine to sew on patches?!" Likewise, I could never do that without her talents, which are infinite and go way beyond sewing.

At one point, Suze mentioned that Katie's friend had given her a wonderful bumper sticker for her car. And, Suze, I give the same back to you now.



We had a lot of beach blanket talk, and when I started to talk about biking, I told Suze she should try it. She said, "I tried that. After I did, I wondered why would anyone want to do this for fun?!?!?" I laughed so hard. It was then that I pulled out my pad and pen. Suze saw this and then said to Katie, "Be careful what you say, Katie, because tomorrow it will end up on the Internet!" Um, yeah, Suze was right. :-)

Here's me and my shadow. Yes, my real shadow is not a Pembroke Welsh Corgi (see http://goddessofallthingslovely.blogspot.com/2009/08/me-and-my-shadow.html).



One thing I love about the beach is digging my toes deep into the sand and letting the waves wash the sand away.

Hey, who stole my Steve Madden sexy shoes?!

This was how I got sandy pants. :-)

Later in the afternoon, the wind picked up and sand was blowing everywhere. On the way home, Suze and I concluded that there wasn't one place on our bodies where sand hadn't invaded.

Here's the day in pictures.

When showering tonight, I reached for a scented body wash. As I rubbed it on my neck, I thought, "Jeez, I don't remember this being a "scrub" body wash. Well, it wasn't. It was just that I had sand all over my neck and in my hair!

Suze, you have never bored me. I loved spending the day with you and Katie. And, we should never wonder why we're friends; we should only ever wonder when we're not the best of friends. <3