(Note: Sarcasm disclaimer on this post!)
Some of you may think that living on a beach is the definition of paradise. But in truth it is actually very arduous.
First of all, the rising sun and crashing waves wake you up at an ungodly hour...which right now tends to be between 7-7:30 AM depending on when Coco comes up to start licking our faces. So you have to lumber out of bed and walk about five steps to let the dog out for her morning ablutions.
It’s time to fill the kettle for morning coffee and fire up the outdoor propane stove. If the sun is behind clouds, you’ll need a light jacket. The coffee is instant because you don’t have electricity to run a coffee-maker, and bodums make such a mess. But add a bit of Ovaltine to the mix and you have the equivalent of a $6 Starbucks malta-coco-coffee.
And then comes the first major challenge of the day: what’s for breakfast? Will it be a simple fruit, yoghurt and cereal, or an elaborate chorizo veggie omelette? The choices are dizzying.
By the time we’ve eaten and done some morning reading, it’s about 10 and we need to figure out what’s going to happen for the day. Usually by this time it’s getting hot so a swim in the ocean is in order. Which then creates a mess of sand underneath the swimsuit, all over the outdoor carpet and into the trailer. A good 20 minutes each day is spent sweeping sand. The struggle is real and it’s constant!
Sand and salt also wreak havoc on your body. First thing to go is the feet. They get wretchedly cracked and peeling on the bottoms, sometimes to the point of bleeding. You’d think that walking on sand would be a great exfoliant, but I guess the body’s reaction to the constant exposure is to add about an extra 15 layers of skin. With the saltwater and wind, your hair gets hideously knotted, and in our family significant time has to be spent brushing out all us furry beasts.
Chores are neverending. Sweeping sand out of the bed, washing dishes (by hand!!!), cleaning, organizing and re-organizing, adding water to the tank - all must be done daily.
If it’s not a supply run day, a beach walk or hike with the dog might come next. Or it’s into town for more fresh fruit, veg and tortillas. A supply run day is a big event calling for dry, semi-clean clothes and usually a stop at Shut Up Frank’s pub to cool down with some Pacificos. Before you know it, it’s 3 PM and someone on the beach wants to come join you for a cerveza! So you gotta put down your book and be social. You do want you gotta do...
About 5 PM the temperature starts to drop and the gnats come out, but you’re too busy watching the spectacular sunset to realize you’re being eaten. You’ll notice at 3 AM when you’re awoken by maddeningly itchy ankles.
Then dinner...imagine coming up with recipes that can be done on a one-burner Coleman for months on end! No standby frozen pizza here! Some nights call for a fire and some call for watching DVDs, and then its to bed early to wake with the sun again tomorrow!
This life isn’t for everyone...those with the remotest cases of ADD or OCD will be driven mad by either boredom or the need to clean! Thank heaven we have neither ;-)
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