Beach Life
Given that most of Australia's population of 20 million people live almost within spitting distance of the coast, it's surprising to me, just how little time I've spent getting my feet wet in the ocean.
Writing this, I'm trying to remember the last time I actually emersed myself in sea water -- and for the life of me I can't. I do know it would have been back in the early 1990s. And I'm quite sure I haven't swum in the ocean since at least 1995. Don't get me wrong. I can flop around in the water along with the best landlubbers, and on a good day, could give a small dog a run for its money with a passable dog paddle. But I've been avoiding the ocean for the best part of 30 years, and I'm not even sure why.
When I was a spotty-faced teenager, I loved to swim in the sea, and I still remember taking the day off work one hot summer to spend the day at the beach. This was well before the days of holes in the ozone layer, and SPF 15+ sunscreen oils.
Oh, the horror... the horror...
Eight hours of unremitting summer sun turned me into a well cooked, lobster red colour that left me in skin blistered agony, shedding dead skin for weeks afterwards. It turned me off sunbathing for years, and even now, I rarely venture out into the midday sun unless I absolutely have to.
I am ruminating on this after spending a very pleasant few hours today, on the foreshore of my local Semaphore beach. Today was a state wide holiday, and this long weekend the Semaphore Music Festival has been taking place at various venues nearby. Today, the foreshore was host to an all day parade of local bands plying their music from the back of a semi-trailer on the esplanade. The weather was perfect. The crowd well behaved (although the same can't be said for the many canine's taking their owners for a walk), and the music fair to middling. Oh, and the ice-cream was so big even I couldn't finish it.
I decided that as soon as the weather allows, I am going to purchase a pair of shorts (or swimming trunks if my body shape permits), and take to the water at least one more time before I head off overseas on my European travels. But more about that later.
Writing this, I'm trying to remember the last time I actually emersed myself in sea water -- and for the life of me I can't. I do know it would have been back in the early 1990s. And I'm quite sure I haven't swum in the ocean since at least 1995. Don't get me wrong. I can flop around in the water along with the best landlubbers, and on a good day, could give a small dog a run for its money with a passable dog paddle. But I've been avoiding the ocean for the best part of 30 years, and I'm not even sure why.
When I was a spotty-faced teenager, I loved to swim in the sea, and I still remember taking the day off work one hot summer to spend the day at the beach. This was well before the days of holes in the ozone layer, and SPF 15+ sunscreen oils.
Oh, the horror... the horror...
Eight hours of unremitting summer sun turned me into a well cooked, lobster red colour that left me in skin blistered agony, shedding dead skin for weeks afterwards. It turned me off sunbathing for years, and even now, I rarely venture out into the midday sun unless I absolutely have to.
I am ruminating on this after spending a very pleasant few hours today, on the foreshore of my local Semaphore beach. Today was a state wide holiday, and this long weekend the Semaphore Music Festival has been taking place at various venues nearby. Today, the foreshore was host to an all day parade of local bands plying their music from the back of a semi-trailer on the esplanade. The weather was perfect. The crowd well behaved (although the same can't be said for the many canine's taking their owners for a walk), and the music fair to middling. Oh, and the ice-cream was so big even I couldn't finish it.
I decided that as soon as the weather allows, I am going to purchase a pair of shorts (or swimming trunks if my body shape permits), and take to the water at least one more time before I head off overseas on my European travels. But more about that later.
posted by Jim Lesses at
8:43 PM
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