​Is your perfect day at the beach one where you are lying on a chaise lounge, sipping a pina colada under an umbrella made of palm tree fronds? Eighty-degree trade winds whispering sweet nothings in your ears, a good book in your hands that pushes away every worry, an afternoon nap so deep that you wake up wondering where you are as you wipe away the drool that leaked down the side of your face?  Me too. But, that’s not always possible.  Alas, the beach can be great, even off-season. Here are 6 reasons why:

​​One: You get it all to yourself! Well, almost. You may have to share it with a solitary jogger or some old guy sweeping the sand with a metal detector hoping to find treasure. You probably won’t be hit in the head with a beach ball, however, or have to listen to a boom box playing your least favorite song.

​Two: No Bathing Suit required. Phew! Tired of trying to squish those extra pounds into a bathing suit that feels more like sausage casing?  Hit the beach off-season in some warm, cozy wear. You don’t even have to do your hair, throw on a warm hat or a worn baseball cap; you’ll be in style.

​Three: You can bring Rover. Many beaches allow dogs off-season.  Dogs love to romp on the sand and toy with the waves.

Four: Wildlife watching.  Wildlife behaves wild in the off-season when us humans around invading their turf.  If you're lucky you'll see dolphins teaching their young how to surf the waves close to the beach, whales migrating to and from the south to mate and bear their young, and seagulls fetching their own dinner when they don’t have your potato chip bag to raid. Why we even spotted a pig one winter on the beach hanging with his volleyball playing beach friends.

​Five: Save money.  Waterfront hotels offer low rates. No beach pass required.

Six: Good night sleep. The beach offers that salty taste and the lulling rhythm of the waves to tune down your internal chatter all year.
​

Susan's novels feature escapes to the Caribbean. Learn more on her website www.susanallisondean.com 

​#beach #relax #books #reading 

For many of us, there was a time when we managed our lives just fine without phones strapped to our bodies, mail shooting at us non-stop via a computer box, and pictures we need to upload quickly before our friends miss that moment in our lives we want to share.  I was reminded of this fairly recently when I sat next to my bulldog, Bubba, on the couch and my phone slipped out of my pocket.  He is past the chewing stage, but for whatever the reason, my phone must have been just too tempting or perhaps it emitted an annoying sound so he decided to chomp on it.  His fangs puncture it just enough, before I found him doing it, that it was destroyed along with all the data-contacts, photos, memos, …that were stored in it.

At first I was shocked, outraged, alarmed, lost, "What am I going to do?".  My mind tried to recall all that was in there, how would I get in contact with my family?  I don't even have their phone numbers memorized.  Who ever would have thought that day would come?  Precious contacts that I entered into my phone rather than take their business card-gone.  Slowly I began to realize, that I could do some searching and get most of what I lost back, but uggg,  Tedious hours it was going to take to enter all that back in a phone.  I took a deep breath, my anger melted as I looked at my dog's face too cute to not hug, and accepted what had just transpired.

Being Sunday, there was nothing I could do, I would have to wait until the following day to go to the phone store and start over.  As the day went on, a freedom that I haven't felt in years set in.  The yank to check for tweets, texts, emails was gone.  The urge to reach out and say, "Hey" to a friend or ask my husband when he'll be home, evaporated.  I began to contemplate, do I even want to get a phone?  No more constant interruptions, no more need to be caught off guard and sign myself up for something I really didn't want to do, no more helping people solve problems they could solve themselves if they tried a little harder.  No, maybe I just won't get another phone, I dreamed of the blissful new existence I could live.

Then, of course, the yang pushed over the ying.  What if there is an emergency with one of my loved ones?  What if someone is trying to call me with an exciting invitation to do something fun?  Ying-Yang, Back-Forth, Ok, I'll enjoy the rest of the day without it, but tomorrow, off to the phone store I go. 

I did indeed surrender and got back on the technology bus.  You may not hear from me much over the next couple of weeks, and it may take me a while to get back to you, however.  I'm purposely going to gear down for the rest of the summer.  I'm going to enjoy juicy cantaloupe, scrunch sand between my toes, lower the stack of books that look like a jenga stack by my bedside table, meditate, give paddle boarding a try with my husband, anything that doesn't require a plug. Go out and live life so there will be more stories to tell.