Memorial Day

Usually at this time of year we're at the beach house for Memorial Day. Didn't work out that way this year, but here's a tribute to the beach I wrote a few years ago. ----- I remember little cotton sundresses with straps that tied on top of my scrawny, suntanned shoulders and the stinging slap of my thighs as I peeled them off the hot, damp vinyl of my mother's station wagon. I remember watching where I put my feet for fear of sticker-burrs and bugs. I remember our Ford station wagon crammed full of clothes, food, beach chairs, our dog Blueberry, and Fruitloop, the rabbit we'd taught to use the kitty litter box who would hop along the back porch of our beach house. I remember the smell of the house before we opened all the windows and doors, musty and stale. I remember sandy sheets and the sting of salt water on my cuts and scrapes. I remember my Wonder Woman bathing suit and my white cotton undies with pink flowers. I remember the feeling of swaying gently in the hammock at sunset after a meal of fried mullet, hushpuppies, and cheese grits. I remember having to ask my mother to do my hair. I remember showering outside. I remember Apple Pectin shampoo and Wella Balsam conditioner. I remember the clear, high cry of the seagulls and the low bellow of the pelicans. I remember the flash of porpoise fins in the Gulf. I remember the slap of my feet across the porch floor and the sharp prick of a splinter lodging in my big toe. I remember trying to catch bait fish with my bare hands. I remember the feel of my skin, salty and dry. I remember the smell of Skin-So-Soft. I remember my father's hands deftly cleaning fish and the glisten of scales across his tanned knuckles. I remember my mother's laughter and how she hopped from foot to foot, trying to reach the ice cube my father had put down her back. I remember digging for periwinkles on the beach and how shiny and colorful the shells were, like Easter eggs. I remember sunsets as far as the eye could see, in the sky and on the water. I remember building drip sand castles by digging down in the sand until we reached a little pool of water, then grabbing handful after handful of wet sand and dribbling it drop by drop onto the beach. I remember my regret when those castles were gone the next morning and my eagerness to begin again.