Beaching on the North Shore

When you look at the pictures of seals just lounging on the beach do you, like me, think to yourself, "Man those seafaring animals are lucky!" But then I think to myself, "Man, I am lucky! I get to go to the beach everyday too!" Yes, the questions plugging up my mind this week were 'What beach should I go to?' and the more pressing scruple, 'When?' On Thursday it was off to the North Shore to Waimea Beach, in archetypal surfer fashion. I almost loved the ride to the beach as much as I loved the beach. Picture this in your mind, Me (or a generic person, such as Aunt Jemima), sitting in the back seat of a car running on empty, no shoes and the windows down. My buddy in the front seat has no shirt on, Jack Johnson is blasting "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" as we drive through his neighborhood, the sun is beaming smiles on us and there are beautiful people and sand everywhere. At the beach we did back flips off a huge rock into the warm, blue ocean and laid out for a few late-afternoon hours. On the way back we stopped at a little cafette (I made that word up, don't use it in a research paper) and admired the geckos. There was no "No Shirt No Shoes No Service" sign and indeed we pushed it to the limit, shirtless and shoeless. Hawaii is a wonderful place, even if it did just appear out of nowhere in the middle of the ocean.