Ramblings of a Beach Bum

Life is just better at the beach, isn’t it? The beach where doing absolutely nothing is doing something; where flip-flops and sun hats are the bare necessities; where sand in your toes is heavenly; where real life is always painted with the ethereal glow of the setting sun; where the line between fantasy and reality is shaky at best.


I recently arrived home from a holiday at the beach in Maui where it's simply impossible to get away from the notion that life is indeed better at the beach. Not only are there signs everywhere supporting this, but the people who live there swear by it and even the tourists believe that their few weeks a year at the beach is the embodiment of paradise itself.

So what exactly is it that makes life better at the beach? A Google search reveals countless theories on why human beings love the beach so much, but rather than go off on a boring scientific tangent, I decided to canvass a few of the locals in my beach neighborhood at Vaseux Lake for their expert opinion:

• When I asked my partner-at-the-beach Mark what he enjoyed most about being here, he replied that he loved the slower pace of life and the amazing view.  I tend to agree with him. 

• My grandson Odie, he’s five, responded that he loves feeding the ducks, the noise (not quite sure what exactly he is referring to here, but then again he is only five), paddle boarding, and the view. The view is getting rave reviews so far. 

• My neighbor down the street who’s lived here forever responded with a jubilant “Hakuna Matata”...there are no worries here, so don’t worry, be happy.” I like it and now I've got a song stuck in my head to boot.

• A regular, local fisherman about to head out in his boat grinned widely when I asked and said “I’m not at work…pure bliss.”  

• A visitor to the lake who happened to be walking by my house one evening and perhaps thought I was a little odd for asking, responded with "life at the beach screams summer at its loudest, regardless of the time of year."

• And nobody says it better than Zac Brown "I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand, not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand. Life is good today, life is good today." 

• As for me, life at the beach means something a little different; I like it for long runs alone, the almost National Geographic element of wildlife observed on a daily basis, and at night time, the stars come out and put on an amazing light show. 

For most of the year, warm water gently laps up onto our little lake beach often leaving small treasures behind, like the tiny Painted Turtle which washed up on it last June; or the large island of cattails which appeared on it as if by magic one Saturday morning right after I had wished for some cattails of my own the night before. Life at the beach is like that…magical...and maybe therein lies the answer to the question. 

Is it possible the beach weaves its own special magic on us all differently so that individually we are uniquely tinged by our exposure to it?

No matter the reason, life at the beach is good and definitely magical, and surely we all could use a little more magic in our lives.

So if you find yourself with your toes in the water and your ass in the sand then you're lucky enough to be at the beach and life is good today!