beachin monday

monday we headed to rocky neck state park for the second time. this time we managed to stay on the highway for two more exits, cutting about 15 minutes off the total trip time. (you win some and lose some). there weren't very many people there, so we walked down the boardwalk a little ways then set up our towels and chairs. i should have known it was going to be a weird day since, as we were setting up our stuff, one of the lifeguards jumped down from the nearest stand, ran into the water with a shovel (like a digging shovel not a sand castle shovel) and comes back out with a giant jelly fish. she dropped it on the sand, dug a hole a buried it. then she said, "i love catching jelly fish!" and ran back into the water, presumably to catch more.

that was a little bit strange but she lost interest after a while (or switched stands - there seemed to be a lot fo that going on) and i read my book and listend to my ipod and soaked up my vitamin d for the week. after we had been there for over an hour, comsumed our subway (jeremy gets the spicy italian foot long and i like roast BEEF on a salad), and started aqcuiring new tan lines (which are the most annoying part of laying out btw, but there are no nude beaches around here - JUST KIDDING), we heard the whistle blow and a voice over the loudspeaker:

"everyone exit the ocean, this is a WATER EMERGENCY." everyone obeyed and the lifeguards came running from all the different lifeguard stands along the beach. there were about 10 guards in total. they went to a spot in the water not far from where we were all set up and all waded in. then they linked hands and made a line extending perpendicular from teh shoreline. they put on snorkel masks and put their faces in the water. while holding hands, they walked along looking in the water. for waht, we were not sure. they went about thirty feet, then went farther out in the water and came back, repeating the process. after getting back equal to their original starting point, they moved out farther in the water. at this point, they could no longer touch the bottom of the ocean, so someone would shout "one two three go" and they would dive under water, surface, and repeat.

eventually someone from the shore shouted over the loudspeaker "we found him, you can come in." apparently they were searching for a kid under water. wow. he was found on shore. i'm sure that was the happiest mom ever. but if i lost someone in the water, i would want those kids looking for that person. they had a great system and hauled ass to get it done. way to go guys!

afte that excitement we stayed for a little while longer, but then decided it was past well-baked time and we better head inside. all in all it was an entertaining day at the beach.