We had just had our first significant snowstorm and the next day my son Alex and I decided to take a drive down to the beach to see the snowy dunes.
We’d stopped on the way to pick up some breakfast sandwiches. With the smell of bacon, egg and cheese bagels filling the car we headed for the beach.
Before we parked we made sure we had a good view of the dunes, with the ocean waves crashing in the background. Leaving the car running with the heat on low we began to unwrap our sandwiches.
That’s when a car whizzed past us and came to a screeching halt several parking spaces ahead of us.
Alex and I looked at each other. “Well someone’s in a hurry to get to the beach.”
We watched as a woman jumped out of the car. She adjusted her knit cap with the furry pom-pom on top before raising her arm and snapping a picture of herself standing next to her car.
I started to laugh. “Oh, it’s going to be one of those.”
Alex just shook his head. He looked at the clock on the dashboard. “It’s 11 o’clock. Let’s see how long she stays.”
We watched her walk the path through the dunes stopping every few seconds to snap a picture of herself, trying different angles to capture herself in the snowy scene.
When she finally disappeared from out view we continued eating, watching the wind blow through the dune grass and the waves crashing against the shoreline, grateful to be in our nice warm car.
“You know,” I looked over at Alex. “I can’t believe how many times we’ve watched people come down to the beach and not actually enjoy it but snap a few pictures of themselves and leave.”
Alex shook his head. “It’s weird.”
Suddenly our selfie lady was sprinting back up the dune path headed for her car. Alex looked back at the dashboard clock. “11:04.” He looked over to me. “Seems about right.” He started to laugh.
We watched as she got back in her car and turned on the engine.
“I’m sure she’s blasting the heat right now, trying to thaw out her hands.” Alex picked up his water bottle and took a sip.
I shook my head. “You know she’s going to spend more time cropping, getting the right filters and thinking up hashtags for her Instragram account than she actually spent at the beach!”
Alex took a bite of his sandwich and I could see he had a thoughtful look on his face. “So are you thinking she’s going with #longwalksonbeach or #clearingmymind?”
I had to laugh. “I was thinking #beachlife.”
We watched as she put her car in drive and sped off.
“Where do you think she’s headed now?” I asked as we saw her break lights disappear around the corner.
Alex shrugged his shoulders. “I’m going to say Starbucks for her next Instragram worthy picture.”
“The one where you snap a picture of the cup in front of your steering wheel!” I had to laugh myself. “With a #startingtheweekend!”
Alex smiled as he took another sip of water. “Yup, that’s the one.”
Slice of Life 