Beyond the Biff Zone
“I don’t want to be here,” my 7-year-old nephew announced when I greeted him, his parents, and his brother at the beach.
“Ok,” I said, “You don’t want to be here.”
“And I’m not going in the ocean!” he said, red-faced, sniffling tears.
“Ok,” I said, “You don’t want to be here and you’re not going in the ocean. Where would you like to be?”
“Away from everyone!”
“That sounds good. Can I come with you away from everyone?”
“Yes, but I’m not going in the ocean,” composure returning.
“Ok, got it. Let’s drop our toys and towels off where we’re sitting and then we’ll go away from everyone.”
“Yeah,” pouty, but pleased.
We dropped the beach gear and then began walking down the beach “away from everyone.” We were quiet, not talking.
He picked up a shell. “Look at this one,” he said, holding it out. It was a smooth, white shard of a shell.
“Wow that is a cool one,” I said, “I like how smooth it is.”
He picked up another and showed it to me in the palm of his little hand. Half a muscle.
“Ooooh, that is interesting,” I said. “What attracted you to that one?”
“I just like it.”
“Nice.”
We walked like that a few minutes more, being together, admiring shells. Then, he put his feet in the wet sand, and looked at me sideways.
“The water seems calmer than yesterday.”
I looked out at the waves. “Yes it does,” I said. He inched forward into the water, almost to the tops of his feet.
“It feels warmer than yesterday,” he observed.
I wandered over and stood beside him, barely in the water.
“You’re right. It does seem calmer and warmer.”
“I want to go in!” He squealed, clutching his shell collection in both hands.
“Ok,” I said, let’s go back to between the flags where the lifeguards are and we can go in.
We began sauntering back.
“But I’m only going in up to here,” he said, making a line with his fingers at his hips.
“Okay,” I said, “only up to there.”
“Up to my waist.”
“Got it.”
We deposited the shells at our towel home base and walked into the calmer, warmer ocean.
To Be Continued …..
