Summer Lovin'

My friends Bonnie, Marianne, and I have rented a summer house near the beach in Chigasaki, a beach town about an hour from where I live in Tokyo. This place has become my weekend haven, a place to escape the insanity of work, which keeps piling on, and the fast-paced, sadly lacking in that sea smell city that is Tokyo. You'd think a city that is technically built near the ocean would smell more of sea, but it doesn't. So, I need to take the train for an hour to get that lovely, familiar mix of ocean water and drying seaweed.

The sand here is volcanic, so it's dark and hot. It makes everything look a little dirty. But I like it, it's not the kind of sand to get too fancy schmancy on you. You've got to be okay with roughing it a bit to spend a day on these beaches 'cause all your clothes, towels, skin, hair, inside of your ears will get gritty and brown.

This past weekend marked the start of jellyfish season and, although there were several of us playing in the super calm water, I was the only one who got stung... and stung... and stung... and stung! I'll be swimming fully clothed from now until the middle of September.

On Sunday, I didn't get to the beach until late. I got in a few choice hours of swimming and sunning (and stinging). I finished two magazines. I listened to hours of Billie Holiday. I watched dogs kayak and people play fetch (frisbee). I saw ladies doing yoga on the beach when it got cooler (though it stayed that perfect summer night warm). And then I watched the sunset with Mount Fuji showing up at just the last moments of the day.