Summer has arrived here in the Prince Edward County/Quinte Region of Southern Ontario. We had spring for approximately one week following a deluge of snow, and now we are into our warm, sultry days of beautiful sunshine and birdsong. 
Driving past Mountainview Church on my way to North Beach today, I noticed a sign 'Gods laughter is found in birdsong.'. I thought it quite appropriate for I believe that the universe shows us love by having us gaze upon breathtaking sunsets, luminous moons, twinkling stars on a dark night and the velvet feel of a flower petal against our fingers.
It was wonderful to be back on the beach of my childhood days.
I'm one of the fortunate few people who still live in the same area that I grew up in from Grade two onwards.
North Beach, where I was today, brings back memories of the roaring bonfires on the beach that my Dad and his friends would build to shed light and keep their wives and children warm with a place to roast marshmallows while the men waded out into the cold water of Lake Ontario in early spring for the annual smelt run.
It was a spring tradition for my family and others to gather at North Beach and using giant seine nets, catch thousands of silvery smelt as they came ashore to spawn.
Back home my brothers and I were paid a penny for each one we cleaned. It was a quick and easy way to make some pocket change.
This beach is part of all of the changes I've gone through in my lifetime. It's sands sift through my soul with memories of happy times, pensive times, noisy times, quiet times.
It was the place I always went to when I had a major decision to make. Somehow the gentle sounds of waves and kildeers as they ran along the silky sand, spoke to me and provided the answer I was looking for. I was able to think more clearly while I lay in the warm sand and my inner voice transcended the thin veil between subconscious and conscious as it spoke with a certainty and clarity about which path to take in my life next.
Today, as I sunk my feet into the warm white sand, I felt a sense of renewal and one with the earth once more. Somehow, when we immerse ourselves in nature, all problems seem distant and life reveals it's beauty and fragility once more.
The beach was deserted except for three different people walking their dogs in quiet reverie. As we greeted one another in a gentle hello and slight raise of the hand, we understood one another and I felt them to be a kindred spirit of mine in their rumpled clothing.
Soon the tourists will arrive from all over the world to swim in the clear, cool waters of the lake as they jump the waves and dig their toes into the shifting sand below. Beach chairs and umbrellas, laughing children, sandcastles, dripping soft ice cream cones, charcoal barbecues wafting their dinner scents through the softening light of late afternoons and a thousand and one tiny human footprints will mingle with those of gull and sandpiper as they combine to create the gentle beauty that is North Beach.
Jo-Anne Smith, the author of this article, is a REALTOR® with Royal Lepage Proalliance Realty, Brokerage, in Belleville, Ontario and welcomes your real estate inquiries. To contact her, visit www.QuinteRegionRealEstate.com |
wow Jo-anne thats incredible - Jeff took this photo last night when he walked our Dog buddy and we had snow here in NW Indiana ( on April 28th who'd of thought? ) your phoo of going barefoot on the beach sounds fun...but right now I have on warm slippers :)
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