For You & I: Part 1

February 1st 2023

Some evenings, late in the summer, I would walk along the shoreline as the brilliance of the sun filled the sky. Seagulls would often swoop low and gracefully, landing near me and dancing carefully. Sand pipers scampered past me when a wave would flatten and climb up the shore, and then return to discover what was left behind. They picked at the corpses of minnows and crawfish that lined the beach.

I remember liking the way my heels sunk slightly into the hard sand, just after a wave retreated. The weight of my body would expel moisture from the earth that surrounded my feet and, as I walked, the color of the sand would lighten for a moment. Within seconds, water would rush upwards, erasing the memory of my steps.

Occasionally, I would sit in the sand along the edge of the beach, where dune grass began to poke upward from the ground and stuck between my toes. Small critters scurried around me, working tirelessly, and oftentimes a spider would find solace in the shade my legs provided. I never feared them then.