Loose Leaf Notes

The airplanes taking off from Boston’s Logan Airport sound like faraway thunder. But the sun is out. I can see it in between clouds reflected on the glassy wet shore where I walk with my head down. Avoiding its hazy hot glare, I step on the cool floating cumulus fluff and forget for a moment that I’m on the beach. Feeling as if my world has been turned upside down, I’m shaken from everyday assumptions, but I’m not dizzy. I’m intrigued. In this new world, the lime green, shocking pink, and aqua blue umbrellas that dot the landscape could have fallen from above like parachutes. They could have been planted like flags on the moon by families staking their claims. Chairs, towels, blankets, and coolers, providing supplies, circle the camp-out stations. Like an explorer, I scan the open terrain and make note of all I see. More umbrellas in the distance. They look like small floating islands in a sea of undeveloped shore. ~ Nantasket Beach, Sunday July 8th.