When I decided to take my folding chair to the beach this week, I saw more than the rushing waves of the sea rolling on the white sands. I saw life at its simplex form. A child was running to the arms of an elderly woman. I had no doubt it was her grandmother.
Another child decided to decorate his little sister’s face with a paste of sand. When she cried, perhaps more from fear of a backlash from his parents than compassion, he gave her a hug to calm her down before removing the sands from her face.
I turned my gaze on the right and watched two old couples walking hand in hand. They must have been well in their eighties but obviously there was still a sparkle of romance between them lighting up the twilight of their remaining lives.
I thought they bring to shame young married couples. Most of them taking each other for granted. I did not have to look far to prove it. Just walking in the opposite direction, two young couples in their twenties were walking a distance from each other.
There was obviously no sparkle between them and what a shame it was to see them not connecting to each other. I was almost tempted to shout and say to them, “Stop and look at the example of marriage closeness coming towards you.”
I thought I should mind my own business because there was so much to see around me.
From a short distance away, I heard squeals, but there were not from children but seagulls. There were at least five hundred of them flying in a well-orchestrated loop. After a delightful sequence of flights, they landed on the sands. One of them decided to entertain everybody on the beach by flying in a circle then powerfully swooping down to the water and grabbing a fish.
Then a man decided to spoil the fun of the seagulls. He came rushing with a four-wheel drive and they all flew away. In doing so, he nearly killed the romantic old couples and sprayed sands on my face. I guess it was his idea of fun to selfishly think of himself and his own enjoyment.
I walked to the water and filled my hands to wash my face. As I was coming back, I found a little boy sitting on my chair. He beamed at me and shook his head. He was actually saying, “I am not moving.”
Then his mother came running. She apologised for the rudeness of her little boy and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him away. I was not offended and the boy’s audacity was part of the excitement of being on the beach.
As if it was not enough excitement, a man on a horseback came trotting down the beach. The seagulls this time decided not to budge an inch. They stayed where they were in defiance. The horse, perhaps out of respect, trotted around them and galloped down the beach.
When I got tired of sitting down, I took a walk to stretch my legs. I took a meandering route towards a patch of plants near the embankment. To my surprise, there were purple flowers in full bloom hidden away behind a shrub of thorny trees. They added colour to the place and in perfect harmony with the whiteness of the sandy beach.
I reached a hand to pluck one as evidence to my wife that there are flowers on the beach but nobody hardly notices them. But I decided against it. I left things the way I found them. That’s what nature is all about.
Saleh Al Shaibany
saleh_shaibany@yahoo.com
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