On the Beach

I, Tiresias, have not enjoyed a light salt spray along the boardwalk or a serious summer tan in years. Quite possibly in almost seven years, as that was the last time I was on a beach and in a bathing suit at the same time. Though maybe this doesn’t count, as it was in October at Cape Cod and we were courting pneumonia, even though everyone knows swimming in New England during the World Series does not often meet with positive results. The next time after that, it was a parking lot a couple hundred yards away from the beach. And I guess tugging at the suit bottom and frowning in a Target dressing room doesn’t count.

Anyway, as I feel like sort of a novice and know how forgetful I am, here is a list of the things I must not forget to take with me to the beach:

*Kiehl’s 45 SPF sunblock
*Scrunchie
*Book—should I bring the Sally Lockhart book, The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman or All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren, which I borrowed from Cass and should be reading but is slow going, even though I like it and some of the passages are so gorgeous as to make you weep? Or something entirely different … a Business Week, the latest issue of Paste Magazine, or Razor’s Edge by Somerset Maugham? Or a Russian novel set in winter as a way to keep cool?
*My notebook, so I can “blog” while at the beach. Never off duty, though this week wouldn’t convince anyone of this fact. Just know that there are several entries in the queue and should get fired up soon.
*iPod. Will listen to Joni Mitchell, Lauren Hill, Derek and the Dominoes, and John Prine.
*Towel
*Pen
*Black electrical tape
*Clear mailing tape
*Extra pair of shoes
*Shirt and skirt, just in case I decide to float a bit in the Atlantic in my shorts and tank top.

Things I will need at Penn Station, the portal to all good things:
*Water
*Superglue
*Magazine, cause you can’t have enough
*A caramel macchiato

Things I wish I had for the beach:
*Karen Carpenter’s greatest hits
*Jim Croce’s greatest hits
*Musicology
*Mad Libs.

The tape and glue so I can repair my glasses on an as-needed basis.

But I don’t like to think when I am at the beach, feeling the sun on my face and wind rippling through my hair, so I probably won't have much use for Mad Libs or the aforementioned books. We’ll try to be good roving reporters. If we see someone doing some serious nosepicking or working on sudoku puzzles, you, dear reader, will be the first to know.