By the Sea
Beach Reads Dive into a good book this summer. words by MELANIE WALLACE, ED.D.
T
he year was 1975 and the place was far from our beloved Crystal Beach (though I consider “all the seas to be one sea”). Jaws was all the rage. The movie came out that summer, encouraging even more people to pick up the best-selling book. I was no different. Mack and I planned our wedding for late that summer, a couple of weeks before the new college semester would start, so that we could continue living with our respective parents most of the summer and save money before school started up again. We were treated to a Honeymoon in Hawaii by Mack’s aunt who was in the travel industry. We were 20 years old. The whirlwind of the days leading up to the wedding had worn us both out and we were anxious to hit the
powdery white sand on the beaches of Kauai. Of course, I had packed a couple of new bathing suits, sunglasses, and my suntan lotion (baby oil and iodine back then–remember, it was the 70s). At the last minute, I had thrown in a paperback to read…Jaws. That may have been a mistake! That first morning on Kauai, I spread my beach towel out on the powdery sand, slathered on my baby oil and iodine mixture and kicked back, ready to enjoy a few minutes of reading before hitting the water. Well, let’s just say…I never got in the water during that entire two weeks! I started reading Jaws, and never could bring myself to enter the surf (though as a Pisces, I am always drawn to the ocean). Countless folks stopped by to comment on my questionable reading material. Just when I thought it was safe to go back into the water… May/June 2016
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