Our summer landmark

Originally appeared on spirituality.com

When our family decided to take a vacation together, we found a place for rent along the Gulf of Mexico, about a three hour drive from our home. My little grandchildren were especially looking forward to enjoying the swimming pool and beachcombing along the shore.

We followed the directions and found our condo, set back from the beach, which was accessible by a pretty boardwalk bridge. The children and I changed into bathing suits right away and climbed across the boardwalk and down onto wonderful soft sand. We kicked off our shoes and raced down to play in the gentle waves and then wandered back and forth looking for seashells. The children soon filled their little buckets with all sorts of things found along the tide line.

It was getting hot and we all agreed something to drink and a dip in the pool would be a great idea. But when we looked back at the dunes we were unable to spot the entrance to our boardwalk. I was upset with myself for not paying closer attention when we entered the beach area. I should have been more aware of some landmark to use in finding our way back. I was also chiding myself for not bringing along some bottles of water. The children were tired and hot and wanted to go back, but I didn’t want to cross the dunes in the wrong place.

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