A different kind of "battling the elements" post here. This past summer I went to Maine for the first time. We got a place in Wells, right across the street from the beach. Down near the beach, there is a place of residence built on every single square inch of available space. Little tiny roads built just to get to homes that are built in what should be the backyard of other homes. Where we were staying was a unit of ~10 condos, 1st and 2nd floors. A bunch of people in a small space. When I wanted a smoke, I'd usually go for a walk or, like I did my second night there, hit the beach.
This is Wells Beach at sunrise.
We had gone to the beach earlier that day. It was beautiful. It was low tide, but you can see just how far up the water came when the tide was in. Or so I thought.
That night once my wife and son went to sleep, I grabbed a couple beers, a blanket, and went to the beach for a cigar. Because it was pitch black on the beach, I didn't go too far from the walkway. There was a whole bunch of large rocks just off the walkway, then sand. Once I was walking on sand, I went a couple more feet, then set up shop. Clipped the smoke, lit it, and cracked open a beer.
I was sitting there just staring up at the sky, enjoying the view. Living so close to NYC, the light pollution here is awful. I was taking it all in. But man, that water sounded kinda loud. I knew the tide must was coming in. No big deal, I was still a good 6' or so from what looked like the high water line from when I was on the beach earlier in the day. The cigar is just starting to hit the sweet spot, and I'm opening my 2nd beer and holy crap the water is loud now. I thought for a second to flip on my flashlight and see what was going on, but decided against it. I am positive I knew where the high water line was, I was nowhere near it, and even still, there's no way in hell the tide was going to reach where I was.
And then with the loud rush of a wave, I felt the blanket get wet. What the hell?!? I flip on the flashlight. Sure enough, it was coming for me. I checked my watch, and I was still a good 15-20 minutes from high tide. I grabbed all my stuff, ran back over the rocks to the walkway, and walked down the street to a parking lot area that had benches ~10' above beach level. Tons of light there, so the star gazing sucked. But it was quiet, I was able to finish my beer and my cigar. And up there I had a great vantage point of just how high high tide in Maine can be. And a good laugh at the guy walking around in the water down below me trying to catch a Pokemon.
Thanks for the contest!
