Change

Returning to places made familiar by numerous visits over the years lends a timelessness to them. The coast offers ready evidence that everything is subject to change. But resting here in the sun, lulled by the sounds of the ocean, I can see my son playing at two, three, nine, almost thirteen. The same here, the same him, the same me. But different.

In greatest contrast is how I used to long for just a few quiet moments in the sun to simply rest when he was tiny. Just a quick nap off duty, please. Impossible when such a giant force rolls on to the beach just a few feet away, or when one sandy tumble would have meant howls and tears. But today, I sit here alone, in the quiet, a nap at my disposal, I'm straining to follow Zane and his friend way down the beach, happy and capable of adventuring on their own. Today I'm longing for his nearness, the chatter, the invitation to chase waves and hunt for smooth stones.

Everything is subject to change.