The other day I realized it had been three years since I had gone out to the ocean. I live just a 10 minute drive from the beach and used to go daily during the summers home from school. My friends and I would grab our bikes and we would all ride down to the local beach whenever we could. I have memories of building sandcastles while getting scorched by the sun and left with painful sunburns for a few days at a time. Since the ocean had been such an important part of my life for so long, it is surprising to think that my interest all but fell off after I finished high school and went off to college. This is how I ended up going to the beach randomly the other day. I was waiting on my heating and cooling technician to arrive with my new air conditioner and furnace. Although I was planning to stay at home while they installed the new system, I realized that the 90 degree outdoor temperatures would result in 80 degree indoor temperatures at best.
Instead of suffering through the uncomfortably warm environment of my house during an HVAC system installation, I decided to spend the day at the beach. I packed food, drinks, sunscreen, and my towel. As I waited for the text from my HVAC technician I enjoyed myself at the ocean. I got to experience what I had missing out on all of those years when I wasn’t going to the beach anymore. I think I’m going to make an effort to visit the beach more often, especially during the hottest summer heatwaves. There is no way that I appreciate the financial burden, but at least I was able to rediscover my love for the ocean through my need for a new air conditioner installation in my house.