Oceanside
September 9, 2004
You gather your clothes off the line, rinse the salt from your body in the outdoor shower, shake the sand from your shoes, and fold everything away.
In your carry-on you stow a new balsa wood glider, Cisco Brewery cap, one liter of Triple 8 vodka, and a Lightship-red Nantucket T.
Inside, you carry the rush of the surf, the crush of sand between your toes, and the cool of ocean mist on your face. Inside you harbor sea birds and sand crabs, seal and sunshine, and the flotsam and jetsam of this visited place.
You hold onto all of these souvenirs; you’ll need them later.