Cool salt-air breezes…blowing,
They push back the heat of day;
Oh, if it were only possible,
Right here…I would…forever stay!

But, if I lived here every day,
Do you think it would be such a treat?
Perhaps, it too…would become mundane,
Still, I find DOWN BY THE OCEAN hard to beat!

Sitting here…beneath a shady tree,
With the salt air upon my face;
I’m at total peace with the world,
The sand and ocean…are quite the showcase!

Children running across the beach,
They haven’t got a care;
With their beach balls…pails and shovels,
They race back and forth…they’re everywhere!

People living out their lives,
Walk and jog…right before my eyes;
Uninhibited…totally at ease,
Just being ‘themselves’…no need for a disguise.

Off in the distance…a small boat,
Crab traps are being lowered;
In little time…to be brought up again,
The ocean’s bounty…will soon be discovered.

There’s a fleet of sailboats,
Out…on a practice run;
All are a part of a sailing club,
This Sunday outing is great fun!

So far off…on the horizon,
Hazy foothills and mountains appear;
Sometimes the fog will lift,
And, they seem so very near.

But, far across the bay…are they,
Many more miles than you would think;
It’s fun…when you sail across,
The distance…somehow…seems to shrink.

Sea gulls flying overhead,
So graceful and so free;
The air current lifts them high,
Then, back down again…to the sea.

I watch as they take a clam shell,
Up high…into the air;
Then, on the rocks…they drop it,
Claiming a meal for themselves…right there.

So adept in their world,
And, so skilled…they have become;
Oh, if only our world were so easy,
To their life-style…I’d willingly succumb!

DOWN BY THE OCEAN,
What a great place to be;
I’ll come here more often,
To the ocean…a great place to flee!

********

July 17, 2004

Aimee Love
(LHG)