A (fun?) day out

 

So ... we went on the beach. I hate the beach. There is sand there; and it gets everywhere. Why do they have sand on the beach? Why can't they sweep it away and keep the beach tidy for visitors?

They decided to go in the water. I hate the water on the beach. It is salty and can affect your skin; so I am told. I decided to take my shoes and socks off and go in the water dressed just as I am. They told me I would stand out in the crowd and draw attention to myself. Something which I hate to do, being of the shy variety! Everyone would look at me and I would not blend with the rest of the people there sunning themselves in their various swimming costumes.

They suggested I wear swimming shorts. No one would notice me and I would be one of the crowd. I did not have any swimming type clothing with me. A friend let me borrow hers.

At least I kept my hat on!

Is it OK to keep your hat on when on the beach?

On the beach

 

Tom is a regular visitor to this Blog and he comments here often. I visit his Blog often and I would recommend you do too. I always visit the Blogs of those readers who comment here.

Tom is an accomplished photographer. He is what I would describe as an observational photographer. His photos are, to my mind, what a "fly on the wall" would see. His photos range from wonderful sceneries of countryside scenes, urban life with people going on with their lives, to close-ups of flowers and trees, or various murals painted on buildings. There's always a variety of professionally taken photos on Tom's Blog. Really worth a visit.

Yesterday's photos on Tom's Blog intrigued me. They are typical "fly on the wall" photos taken on the beach. The sort of thing you'd see on any beach. Click HERE.

What you see is a woman by the sea. As I said, the sort of scene you would see on many beaches here in the UK, or indeed on any beach near where you live. 

But somehow these photos intrigued me. They raised many questions in my mind with no answers.

The first one being: WHY?

Why is this woman (and many others on many beaches) dressed like that? It must be very uncomfortable for a start. So why dress like that in public?

Is she perhaps thinking, "no one will look at me, there are many other women dressed like this here"?

Or is she thinking, "look at me, do you like?"

What statement is she trying to make by being dressed like that in public?

Don't misunderstand me. If she, (and others), are happy to dress like that in public, I am happy to watch. But still the questions are raised in my mind.

Does this woman have a partner, husband or boy-friend I wonder?

What does he think of seeing her like that in public? Is he happy and proud in a macho way that he has such a beautiful girl-friend? Or is he concerned but too afraid to tell her in case she leaves him for someone else?

As I said, I have seen this scene often on many beaches over the years. Nothing unusual about these particular photos. What I cannot understand is the motivation of people happy to appear like that in public.

Thank you, Tom, for getting me to stop and think. The video you posted yesterday brought back happy memories too. I like your taste in music when you post these from time to time.

On the beach

 

 

There were four of us. We needed some refreshments. Now remember, in Britain, in very hot weather, refreshments could mean a hot cup of tea.

 

So I went to the kiosk, not a hundred yards away from where we were, to get said refreshments.

 

They serve tea in polystyrene cups with a lid to keep the content piping hot. To help carry the cups they have small cardboard trays with four holes. You put the four cups in the four holes, you put individual sachets of sugar and milk in the middle and hey presto ... you can carry four cups at a time and not burn your fingers holding the cups.

 

I decided also to get four choc ices. Why not?

 

These are chocolate bars that look very much like a Mars bar only twice the size. It is covered with chocolate and inside its lovely ice cream.

 

I could not carry the four choc ices in the tray. The heat from the tea would melt them. So I put them in my shorts pockets - two in each pocket. I was only a few yards away, anyway!

On my way back I met  my boss. What the hell is Quentin Theobold-Smythe doing here? He is the boss and owner of the whole business.

He was the typical Englishman. In bare feet. Wearing trousers with the legs rolled up to his knees. A pin-striped shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. And a knotted handkerchief on his head to protect his bald patch from the sun.

He stopped to have a chat ... pleasantries at first ... "Jolly hot what? Don't you say? Rather humid too I shouldn't wonder!"

Then he started talking about a business project we were working on. Why do some people always talk business even when on the beach in hot weather looking like a typical Englishman on holiday?

I politely discussed the project with him, nodding and agreeing in order to shorten the conversation.

Although it was very hot that day, I began to feel a freezing sensation in my private area as the ice creams began to melt. He did not notice.

I tried to concentrate and look him straight in the eye whilst hopping from foot to foot trying to dissipate the cold front moving in from the South.

He just would not stop talking. I was getting colder and colder down there as the freezing ice cream began to shrivel to extinction whatever I had left to be shrivelled. He continued talking oblivious of the new Ice Age engulfing my very being. 

 

Slowly but surely a brown creamy liquid began to trickle down my legs. Luckily he didn't see it. 

 

My teeth began chattering uncontrollably even though my head was sweating from the burning sun. 

 

It is then that I got this urgent need to go for a pee. It started small but became more insistent by the second. The cold gave me a frisson up my back, even though we were not in France at the time.

Getting totally numb down there with the freezing cold I really had to run to the bathroom.

Eventually, I had the courage to excuse myself and tell him my friends were waiting for me.

 

I rushed to them, gave them the tea tray and rushed to the toilet.

 

They just would not believe my version of the story!