My Wisconsin

I'm feeling a bit of state pride today, so I thought I'd include the below piece that I wrote while I was a bit homesick and wishing for Northern Wisconsin.

The Beach

I need to get away.  Travel to a calm beach with peaceful waters and the kind of sand that warms your feet while you walk.  I see the sun shining down on my face with a cool breeze blowing just strong enough to keep the air sweet.  There are a few people randomly on this beach, I am not alone, but these people do not know my past, my present, or me.  They only care about living life and having a good time, with no stress and no responsibility.  My decisions do not affect them and therefore they do not act like they do.  If I choose to walk along the beach, they do not care because my walking does not affect their happiness.

            As I sit on the warm sand my hair blows calmly in the breeze.  Occasionally falling across my face and tickling my nose, so that I have to brush it away.  The smell of the water encompasses my lungs and fills my body as if suppressing my intent to scream, squashing it into a million little insignificant pieces.  If I dig my toes into the sand little pools of water appear as if by magic, but then disappear quickly with the melodic rhythm of incoming waves.  A hawk circling over head calls repeatedly to the vast forest as if waiting for its long lost lover to reply. 

            I turn and notice that a man sits quietly down the beach to my right, he seems at first to be living life sweetly.  He is reading a book, which one does not matter, and he has a smile on his face.  Sitting calmly on a yellow tepee chair his nose crinkles as he laughs to himself. As he crisply turns the page I notice the sun reflect off of a watch on his left wrist. I feel a sudden impulse to take the watch that ticks like a bomb and hurtle it into the darkest shadows of the lake. He quickly checks his Gucci leather banded abomination to once again remind himself that his happiness comes contained in little saran-wrapped time slots.

            I think about how much I enjoy this freedom and peace.  Once I have sat on the beach long enough that my skin is turning crimson, or that my eyes burn from the suns rays, and my enjoyment has ceased, only then will I slowly stand up, and dust the sand from my comfortably wrapped skirt, pick up my belongings, and head out to find another place where tranquility and peacefulness rule.  I smile to myself like a young child who has just realized that they get to play outside for just a little bit longer.  The breeze blows calmly across my face and smells of evergreens and tranquility.