117. Beach Inspired: What’s not to write about the beach?
Growing up, the closest beach was Newport or Huntington but my parents didn’t take us to the beach past my third birthday. My opportunities to go to the beach were with friend’s families or on school trips. Once my sister got her driver’s license, my parents forced her to take me with her as a requirement for her permission to go. In the 1970’s it only took an hour to drive from Riverside to the beach although the ride home in the afternoon was a bit of a slog. I liked the idea of a beach more than I liked being at the beach. The summer coastal fog in Southern California is daily, thick and didn’t clear up until afternoon so sunning myself or going into the water wasn’t much fun. TV and movies always showed sunny beaches filled with bright colors and activities but my summer beach trips were never like this.
