Humarock Beach Friday, June 12, 2009 By Ms. Anderson Last summer we had the opportunity to stay right on the beach in a sweet little old-style cottage, falling asleep and waking up to the crashing of the waves just outside our sliding screen door. The days were sunny, but the ocean water was a tad brisk...like - immediately numbing to the ankles! However, on our last day the wind shifted from off shore and miraculously the temperature of the water was actually okay, so we dove in. (Okay, I didn't dive in...I never do, even when it's bathwater!) My friend Pam, however, who lives down there and is a "Professional Beach Queen", does, indeed just 1, 2, 3 dive right in!... I guess if you're used to diving in on New Year's Day as she and her son regularly do, it's nothing to just hop in in July, no matter what the temps...especially when you can come right back out and immediately warm up in the hot sun again! Walsh's own Tommy Barone claims that he was biking by and saw me one day....he and his family live down near Humarock....closer to Brant Rock and next to Mrs. Carney! Ace had his own "Cairns Festival." As you can see with the photos, he spent some time (or, meditation, as he chose to call it), perfecting his rock stacking techniques. By the end, I was calling him "The Ace of Cairns."  One couple stopped by the cottage and asked about the stacks of rocks as they examined his examples that spread across the deck. They admitted to sneaking up a day earlier when we weren't there and checking them out, then headed back to their cottage to share with their family this "fun activity!" But, they somehow weren't as successful as Ace in their methods, so they came back to take a second look and learn some tips from the Master! I don't think they quite saw it as the meditative experience that the "Ace of Cairns" did, they seemed to be approaching it more from an Olympic event...who could build the tallest one! Our final night there we experienced one crash-bang-up thunder and lightning storm. For about a half hour we saw the storm moving toward us from the distance. Soon enough, lightning cracked all around us and thunder booms shook the tiny cottage. In the face of a storm like this, in a tiny little cottage, we felt pretty tiny too. At least we had the shelter of the little cottage to watch the show from and even as the electricity flickered on and off, we were in awe of it all. Great walks every day, meditative cairn building, wonderful weather, relaxing beach time, glorious sunsets over the river, and the never-ending ocean right in front of us every day...ah, nothing like some time at the beach.

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