Catie had no interest in writing her name in the sand. No interest in modeling her outfit. No interest in testing how far into the water I would let her run.
Catie wanted to burn off energy. She wanted to just go. On the sand. To the shells. To all of the the small parts of sand dollars that were spread over the three-mile swath. She wanted to explore.
And, when I look at this picture, and I see how long her legs are, and how much it looks like she needs to stretch them, I’m so glad she did.
When Catie wasn’t exploring, she was observing. Mostly me. At seven, she’s aware of my moods and my motivations. She told me right away that she knew “this walk is to spend time with me, isn’t it, mommy?”
I told her it was. And also that this walk was because I love the beach so much.
True to form, this connection seemed to make her love the beach more. Suddenly it was magical. “DO ANIMALS REALLY LIVE IN SHELLS? WHY ALL THIS FOAM? WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST?”
I told her I liked the shells a lot. And the sand dollars she had found.
So, she found more and more of those shells and sand dollars.
She walked next to me and held my hand.
And then she ran off to do some more exploring.
