Life's A Beach

As I mentioned a couple days ago, I spent a few days earlier this week down at the beach. Now I admit to not being much of a beach-goer the last few years, so during my triumphant return to the surf I noticed a few things had changed. For one thing, I don't remember people bringing so many accessories to the beach. Some of these set-ups were very elaborate. Sure, everyone still brings the standard towels and chairs, but now those items are just a couple of the many tools which are becoming standard-issue beach equipment. The cool thing now is to have a small cart, which is then loaded down with additional items like a cooler, a radio, a book, two or three umbrellas, beach toys, a raft and a large bag which holds all sorts of lotions and hats. That was the other thing - people seem to be going out of their way to avoid the sun. Besides slathering their entire bodies with SPF 3000, people also hid under huge umbrellas and wore hats with brims so wide it would make people going to the Kentucky Derby jealous. I know we have become a lot more aware of the dangers prolonged exposure to sunlight has on skin, which is a good thing. But if you are that worried about it, wouldn't the absolute safest course of action be to stay home? It would be like going in the water and complaining about how wet you are getting. Either way, it is nice to know one thing about trips to the beach haven't changed - the sand. Seriously, that stuff still gets everywhere.