If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Living on an island you would think I would have my fill of water, sand, and salt life. Sound the game show buzzer. The correct response is that I need to be by the water. I can’t be landlocked. It is not in my plans.
My skin lights up when I’m by the ocean. Everything about the salt life has my name on it. Summers on Long Island can be brutally hot and humid. The type of humidity that sent 1980s permed curly hair screaming for a can of Stiff Stuff hairspray or worse – a baseball hat that couldn’t fit all of those locks underneath. To escape the heat we would head to the beach for a day with our friends. We would ride our bikes or if lucky enough we had a friend with a sibling that drove and we’d literally pile in their Chevy Nova until we could drive ourselves.
No beach chairs then – just towels and blankets stuffed in a canvas beach bag, bottle of Coppertone, can of Tab, transistor radio tuned to WBAB, plastic bag of ice, and a bologna sandwich with mustard. The crowd at our town beach was a combo of electric and chill all at once. Everyone from town was there and you always met people from neighboring towns that you’d see out at the local bars each week. The best part was this guy that roamed the beach selling ice cream. You’d hear him dragging his cooler and barking “Ice cold Fudgie Wudgie Bars”. Man – to me that was the coolest job around (pun intended). I grew up wishing to always be on the beach no matter where I was in life.
When the kids were small we fell in love with Florida’s west coast on a vacation to the Clearwater area. We drove through a town called North Redington Beach. That was it for me. I fell in love with everything about this jewel of a town. It was gorgeous and sleepy. It had edge yet was classic. I created a whole Pinterest board about the town on the plane ride home. To this day I still check the real estate prices and am saving my sheckles to buy something there soon.
I literally have the entire house I would like all mapped out. I’ve built it in my mind for a few years. I can see what I’m wearing as I sit outside at my pool looking out over the ocean (a pool – ocean/gulf combo is a must in my mind). There will be a dock and a boat. At the base of the dock will be a small hut or maybe a “she-shed” where I keep the paddle boards and yoga mats. I have even designed where I will write. A desk made from retired surfboards will be placed in a room with a floor to ceiling window that looks out over the Gulf. That will be where I answer all writing prompts one day as I sip Iced Americanos and reach into the cooler for you guessed it – a Fudgie Wudgie bar.
Enjoy your weekends my fellow dreamers!
Mobile Order For Karen 