Feet wet

Posted by seanho on Sun 30 March 2008

Yep, a nice long walk on in the sand is a good way to relax after a packed Sunday -- and all my Sundays are packed nowadays! We're here at White Rock beach with the tide mostly out, although the sand is still wet in most places. I realized later that there's a lesson to be gained, even from just a low-key Sunday-afternoon stroll.

Traipsing along the muddy flats in our Sunday best, initially we had to choose our pathway very carefully. My "Sunday best" shoes are the same shoes I wear everywhere -- one pair of Birkenstocks for all occasions! Still, rivulets of water would in places isolate the solid ground into islands -- if we didn't plan our route carefully, we'd end up blocked in by water, and have to backtrack to find a spot to "ford" the little streams.

Finally, we gave up and took off our shoes and socks, rolling up our pant-legs to wade into the water. Oh, the freedom in that first, decisive step into the mud! There was no going back once our feet were wet. But with that barrier passed, we were fearless in walking freely anywhere on the beach -- if anything, it was more comfortable to be in the water.

It's a bit dangerous, though -- once you go forward, it's a lot harder to go backward. Walking back to the sidewalk, we had to cross a stretch of hard pebbles and poky broken shells; that was painful! Life is full of lessons....

tags: beach,