Believe it or not
I had never been on a vacation.
Mom and Daddy were too poor
and too busy
and Larry was always working
and not interested in wasting time
vacationing.
So when Wes asked me to go
to South Jersey where he was born and raised
and then over to Ocean City
for a weekend
I wobbled for a few minutes
(how much would it cost me? ought I to do it?)
then I said "yes".
I packed my shorts and tops
and sandals
and off we went.
It was summer, so the ride was beautiful
winding roads, pine trees so tall
frilly curtained diners to eat at
sweet little towns full of antique shops
and, finally, flat New Jersey highways
taking us to the ocean.
We stood on the boardwalk
watching frothy waves come rolling in
only to collapse and die on the gritty sand
and people, people everywhere!
Seagulls swooped and cawed
and fought over bits of hotdogs
abandoned on the beach
and the sun covered us
with heat and sweat.
I said to Wes
"Most of these people are half naked!"
and Wes said to me
"Well, that's the way the world is nowadays."
His take on life was so different
than mine
because I wanted to run out and yell at everybody get dressed
(especially all the beautiful young things)
but Wes was willing to let it be.
I liked that about him.
I think it made him less nervous
than I was.
He had no need to control the world.
I hadn't brought a swimsuit
since I didn't have one
and couldn't swim anyway
so Wes bought a brightly colored umbrella
and a blanket
and I laid on the blanket
under the umbrella
and watched him as he caught the waves
and swam back and forth
and watched all the people
running to the water
screaming and shouting and having fun
and fell asleep.
My feet got terribly sunburned
red swollen hurtful
so that I couldn't even wear my sandals
and had to go barefoot
but I had big cokes loaded with crushed ice
and caramel popcorn and salt water taffy and cucumber sandwiches
and our hotel room was air-conditioned
and life was good!