5:00 waves

This isn't a new rant or a new musing; it's a state of being that I'm incessantly emerged in daily. I wrote it sometime this past summer and I found myself drawn back to it as these few warm days arise and tease me with thoughts of salt water and sandy beaches. Enjoy.

5:00 Waves

The beach always looks different when the sun is getting ready to go down. The waves that have been breaking all day are still relentlessly running to and from the shore; the seagulls that squawk all day are beginning to go hoarse; the crabs are looking for a crab hole to retire in for the evening.
Somehow, the whole feeling and essence of the beach fades as the scorching summer heat loses a fragment of its intensity. During the daylight hours the beach is smothered in tourists, out-of-towners, one-day vacationers, and greedy visitors who come to the beach seeking to exploit the same waves that have always been-and will always be-there.
In the evening, something changes about the beach. The beach atmosphere is what I remember it as when I was young. It’s relaxing and not quite as crowded. During the evening, there are no cell phones ringing and no one making frantic calls to someone to tell them something that probably doesn’t really matter in the long run.
At 5:00, the beach finally becomes the beach. Gone are the scantily clad girls who come only to strut what God gave them or didn’t give them but they are trying to show off something. Gone are the inconsiderate tourists who don’t care too much because they are on vacation and they don’t have to abide by the rules because when one goes on vacation all the rules are off and we can just throw garbage, drink beer and the everyone else can deal with it.
At 5:00, the shadows finally relax, and the sand dunes are able to take a smoke break and tell dirty sand dune jokes. Sand fiddlers quit playing songs on their fiddles and head to the bar to get a drink. No one worries about who’s at the beach after 5:00.
After 5:00 the beach reverts back into a place of comfort, relaxation and peace. No more pressing matters, no more images to uphold, no more worries hanging over one’s head to deal with.
5:00 waves are the waves that people look for, but don’t find, because at 12 noon, they aren’t there.
5:00 waves are the waves that people remember.