But it’s what I can do for them, short of adopting them all—which I cannot do. I will say this a second time, more for me than for anyone else: I CANNOT ADOPT ALL THE CATS. Yet I find this small bit of service to be so much more rewarding than you might expect.

I recently had family in town and had the chance to play tourist again. It’s always so fun to have an excuse to do some of your favorite things, especially with people who are new to them.

Considering I've lived just a few blocks from the ocean for the past several years, it is perhaps a bit disgraceful that I've spent so little time at the beach. It's safe to say the novelty wore off relatively quickly, and equally quickly my life became full with new friends and pursuits that cut into my beach time. (I also write books. Have I mentioned that?) I can think of other reasons, too. My fair skin that burns easily, the incessant and annoying tourists that crowd this little beach town between Memorial Day and Labor Day, and, of course, COVID-19. But it's there, the ocean. And every time I see it, I have to remind myself that it's real. That I live here.