A Literary Handbook for the Beach

iro·ny \ˈī-rə-nē also ˈī(-ə)r-nē\ (1): incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result (2): an event or result marked by such incongruity.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I went to Duck Beach with some friends, as chronicled here and here. After a day of enjoying the beach, we were driving back to our house when we spotted a car stuck in the shoulder of the road. Note: Duck is located on the Outer Banks. As barrier islands, they are made of sand. Hence it's important to drive carefully when venturing off the road, lest you get stuck. Much like any "beachy" area. Since these people were from New Jersey, they evidently were unaware of this little factoid.

We decided to stop and try to help them out. It was a couple and a little kid. When we walked up, the guy actually handed us the keys and said, "I don't even know how to drive." Yes, that was a little weird. We dug out the front tires and then another guy stopped to help. He was able to tow them out using his truck. Afterwards, the New Jersey guy shook everyone's hand and thanked us, saying, "You hear about southern hospitality, but I've never seen it. Thank you." He was extremely appreciative. Here's the hole the car left.

Later that night we went to a party. When we walked up to the house it was at, what did we see? That same truck now stuck in the sand. We stopped offered to help, but the guy said he had it under control. So instead, I helpfully took a picture.

met·a·phor \ˈme-tə-ˌfor also -fər\ 1: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them.

One day while we were all at the beach, the water was quite cold. We were toeing our way in when a random guy came up and told us, "It's better to just get in all at once." He then plunged himself into the water as we watched. PS - We later saw him go and appear to have this same conversation with another group of people on the beach. Maybe it's his hobby. Anyway, this began a discussion of how we like to get in the water. I decided that at pools, I like to jump in all at once. For the ocean, however, I prefer to ease in a little at a time to see what's it like, and then quickly get out past the breakers so they don't continually crash on me.

As our little group compared notes about our relative water-adjustment techniques, I began to wonder how this transferred to other areas of my life. Do I plunge into my metaphorical pools only because I know it's safe? In the giant oceans of life, it can certainly be difficult to swim out into the unknown. Are some methods better than others? Sometimes. Maybe it's about finding the right balance between caution and abandon.

de·noue·ment \ˌdā-ˌnü-ˈmäⁿ, dā-ˈnü-ˌ\ 2 : the outcome of a complex sequence of events.

It was also my birthday :)

Above photo courtesy Lacey Martin.