"The beauty, the beauty, I could marry it!"
/
Three heavenly days in Hermosa Beach, CA with the Lovely Monsters, Taya (7) and Campbell (9). It's been too long since witnessing a sunset over the Pacific.
The ocean was warm and a glittering green with funky thick waves that gave you the thrill of being at the top of a curl thinking "uh-oh, here I go" but then the weight of it kept you bouncing on top like a joy ride. Total heaven. Above, a shot of T and C digging to China and if you look hard you can see a wave forming behind the seafoarm.
When Campbell and I were in the water he kept proclaiming "The beauty, the beauty, I could marry it!" Another time we were walking on the beach and passed a clump of kelp. He pointed to it and said, "Pulp of the ocean." I immediately stole it and slipped it in a poem--with the originator's approval.
Taya, admittedly, prefers to parade around like a slave-labor model than hit the surf. I'll give her two years to get over her fear of the "green room," which in surfer's lingo is the inside curl of a wave.
When I go out with the kids, people usually assume I'm their mom. One time I couldn't get Taya to walk to the beach with me so I picked her up and slung her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. 
A man nearby said, "Nice going Mom!" Taya whispered to me, "He called you Mom. You're not my Mom." To which I replied, "Just give me this."
Here's a poem Campbell and I wrote together, mainly Campbell; I just transcribed it.
The treasure chest that lies in
the ocean sparkles with loneliness.
The trays at lunchtime smash
into each other in the food assembly line.
A boy in the street has no-
where to go. The rain is filled
with silver. Wishes blow through
the town. Everything can be
done in life.