So Fresh And So Clean, Clean
Posted By jayna on July 31, 2009
I grew up here. 45 minutes south of Lake Erie and a couple of beaches. In the entire 22 years I spent here before moving away, I went to the beach one time. And that was in college and we were really, really bored.
When we went then, it smelled like dead fish. Dead, rotting fish and a yucky mix of other unidentifiable smells. The beach was dirty, littered with garbage, bird feathers and actual dead fish. I still cannot fathom how the husband was able to get me out in the water with him. Perhaps it was still that whole we’re-dating-and-I-have-to-impress-you stage. That would explain a lot.
We never went as a family when I was growing up because of stories of dirty needles in the sand, toxic waste dumping and all that garbage. It was not a happy place. Pretty with potential, but definitely not happy.
All summer, I’ve been hearing how we should go up there. That it’s changed and been cleaned up. The needles are a thing of the past, and so were the dead fish. For two months I shook my head and repeated “No way!” Then it got hot. And we got really bored. And I hadn’t actually heard of anyone contracting anything dangerous from there recently. So, we went. Piled the husband, my mom, my sister, the girls and I in the car and drove the 45 minutes up there.
We pulled in the parking lot and it looked like a happy place. We dragged our gear out onto the beach, and that looked nice. We settled down on the sand, and that was clean. We dipped our toes in the water, and they didn’t turn green, shrivel up or fall off. The husband dove in, and he didn’t come back out glowing or half eaten by a two headed lamprey.
It was an excellent day.
You're brave :) I think I would have spent the day picturing what it used to look like.
Look nice now though and the pictures are great!
That looks like crazy fun. Glad there were no needles in the water.
Now, how often can you use THAT phrase?
(answer: this was my first time)