Real Kato Blog: A Moment's Notice

A went to the beach today, because I could.

There are a few freedoms that come with being a single guy. Today I decided to jump in the convertible and take a day trip to the beach. Total amount of planning and preparation for this trip: ten minutes. If I ever have kids, this kind of spontaneity is surely something I'll miss.

For my beach trips, I usually drive out to Fort Fisher, which is where you end up if you go east on I-40 and keep on going until the road ends. I like to think of it as being the eastern tip of the country, though it isn't really. This trip has become something of a tradition for me: I always pack a cooler with a few beers, some water, and an Italian BMT from Subway. I bring a little folding beach chair, some towels, a book, and the newspaper.

It's 160 miles from my house to Fort Fisher. I can usually make the trip in about two and half hours. Today it took about half an hour longer, because a hundred thousand other people had also decided today was a good day for a beach trip, and there was a huge traffic logjam in Wilmington. But I made it, and as soon as I sat down on my beach chair, the stress of the drive just melted away.

I cracked open a can of beer, surreptitiously, since alcohol is technically not allowed there. (It's a state park.) And I opened a can of Pringles, also surreptitiously, because the seagulls will turn into a Hitchcock movie if they catch you with food. I remember once, some idiot woman actually started throwing bread to the seagulls, thinking it would be fun to feed them. Five minutes later, the woman and her child were running and screaming in terror as ten thousand screeching birds pecked at their heads. Good times.

I looked around and I noticed I had unintentionally staked out a spot right next to two Asian families, one Korean and one Chinese. To all the white people around, it looked for all the world like we were forming our own little Chinatown section of the beach. I should have caught a few seagulls and barbecued them with ginger and soy sauce, just to add to the illusion.

Anyway, the next three hours were blissful periods of reading, eating, drinking, and napping. Oh, I did go in the water for a little body surfing, too (and yes, I did wait half an hour after eating). I was the ONLY person in the water who did not have a boogie-board. There were sixty-year-old women with boogie-boards. When did I miss the boogie-board memo? I didn't know it was required.

Getting out of the water, I had a little problem with my swimming trunks... they kind of clung to me, and that made them a little bit revealing. And soon the sixty-year-old women were looking at me like seagulls eyeing a box of saltine crackers. None of the eighteen-year-olds paid much attention, though.

It's not exactly South Beach out there. There weren't exactly a lot of hotties parading around in thongs. No, this is a family-friendly kind of beach, the kind where moms and dads videotape their kids happily splashing in the gentle surf. And watching those happy little kids, it occurred to me: I want that. I want to have little kids so I can watch them experiencing sand and waves for the first time, thinking that it's the greatest thing they've ever seen. For that, it'd be worth giving up the spontaneity of singlehood.

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Posted by Ken in: life

Comments

Comment #1 from Crouching Hamster (Guest)
2005 Aug 14 - 4:09 pm : #

I think you'd make a GREAT dad! You have the patience of a saint, and the wisdom and maturity to have some idea (you never know everything) of what you're getting yourself into (an advantage of being one of the last ones among your peers to get married and have kids). And you'd be surprised at how spontaneous you can be with kids - as long as you've got the travel diaper bag already packed. And I know you would. Although I only speak as an aunt and a babysitter. With me, the kids always thought they were having fun, so they just blindly followed me. I'd take them to a landfill and they'd have a good time. I don't know if that would be true if I were their mom.

I'm thinking of someday opening my tiny apartment to high school exchange students (from countries where the living quarters are cramped) who wish to experience the diversity and culture of New York. It's the best way I can think of to share what I have here. That's how one of my professors and his brother came to the U.S from Romania. They are now both ivy league tenure track professors in economics. Of course, I'd take the kids to Jones Beach! (I think. I haven't been there.)

Comment #2 from Phil (Guest)
2005 Aug 15 - 12:50 am : #

Ken -- just make sure you do CH's guy-who-wants-kids Q&A ;-)

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