I'm Back! (And a Trip to the Seashore)

And.......I'm back!

Phew!  It's been a long time since my last post in July, and in all those days and weeks and months, lots and lots of life has happened- and a whole bunch more is on the way.  But it feels nice to come back to this little digital corner of the world and say hello once more.  To be honest, I'm not quite sure who I'm chatting with here on the blog, but even if it's just myself (and probably my mother), that's perfectly fine!  It's a little place where everything can be just as it should.

Wintertime has been perplexing this year, don't you think?  The vicissitudes of the weather have been really striking here in NJ (yep- we moved!).  One day it's in the 60s and as mild as late spring, and the next it's gray and frigid, the bare trees huddled against the wind.  Right now, it's one of those desolate, gray days, but I just noticed a few flakes of snow drifting past the window.  That would be a nice way to brighten things up- just a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

A few weeks ago, we got to spend the holidays with Mama and Papi Mersydotes, and it was glorious!  The day after Christmas we struck out to go exploring, and found ourselves transported to one of the most peaceful places you can imagine- Sandy Hook beach and nature reserve.  

Although I'm sure it's teaming with people in the summer months, we had the wind-swept sand all to ourselves, with the water and the sky opening up in front of us, and NYC over to the left looking like a set of miniatures rather than the overwhelming beast we know it all too well to be.

The dogs had the time of their lives running back and forth, parallel to the surf, spinning in circles, and burrowing in the sand.  It was too chilly for them to go for a dip, but they proudly dragged a piece of driftwood twice their size across the sand.

It seems to me that there's nowhere lonelier than a beach in winter weather.  Not a bad kind of lonely, just a contemplative one.  Windy and barren, it's like you're walking along the sands of your own mind with a sanitizing chill blowing away the cobwebs.

We even came across a lone loon bobbing in the waves, blissfully unaware of the cargo ships far off by the horizon.

A beautiful way to wrap up the old year and beckon in the new.  I hope that you also had a lovely end to 2016.

~Mersydotes