Beaches

This post may be a little late in the season, but I think people still go to beaches.

I like beaches. I've been to Hawaii, the Bahamas, and North Carolina Beach. I've also been to Galveston, along the Gulf. All beautiful, and for the most part pleasant experiences.

Nicole doesn't remember when she was at a beach, but she was only 18 mos old so that is understandable. NOW however she is not sure if she ever wants to go to a beach. She has seen too many reports of hurricanes, tsunamis, and such that she now tells me she will not go to a beach for fear of getting sucked into the water.


If she had been in my room with me the other day folding clothes I swear she would never go near water again.

I was channel surfing to find some mindless drivel to take my mind off the mindless task of folding clothes/hanging up clothes/sorting socks. I came across a show called "When Beaches Attack." It was intriguing and a little scary, which was probably its purpose. This is a little info I got from it...


When you think of beaches, this type of picture might come to mind:



Pretty , isn't it??

Now imagine you go swimming, having the time of your life. You come out and start to get a bit itchy. Pretty soon you have a rash spreading that looks like this and makes you want to scratch your skin off:

Looks kind of painful, doesn't it? This is what caused it:

Meet sea lice... This is why it is recommended that you thoroughly rinse yourself off at one of those showers up and down the beach. You wash your suit in hot water and soap before putting it on the next day. They said just rinsing it out and letting it dry will not get rid of these little pests. Rinsing off is also a good idea if you have come in contact with a jellyfish. Or even the spray of a jellyfish ( I know this from first hand experience). Chris and I didn't actually get stung by a jellyfish, however one had been near enough to us that we both started itching like crazy and went running down the beach looking and praying for one of those shower thingies.

They also said don't play in the surf with those plastic blowup rafts and such because they are made for pools and not strong enough to withstand the power of some of the waves. They also said to know the beach where you are going. Become familiar with it. Beach patrol usually puts out different color flags for different dangers, such as sharks, strong undertow, sea lice and such. I doubt very highly that you would want to get caught drifting out to see on a cheap plastic raft , enjoying the sounds and smell of the sea, the sunlight on your body , and then come up against this:

They also recommend that when doing this:

that you be VERY careful to not put the sand anywhere near your mouth and such. This is why you need to carefully monitor children who may want to taste sand. They say that E-Coli, Salmonella and Shigella have been found in beach sand. This is due to the fact that people walk their dogs on the beach. The dogs may have pottied in the sand and buried it. Also, how many people do you think, when surrounded by that much water will actually stop having fun and go find a public bathroom in which to pee. Not many I'm guessing. /shiver and EWWWWW!

So go to the beach if you want but please be careful and have a great day!