Changes: To The Ocean, Again

Iowa may be a lovely state and they now have gay marriage. (Who'da thunk it?) Still, I don't think I could live there: It's way too far from the ocean.

Dominick understood. I probably didn't even need to tell him that. When we walked onto a beach on the Rockaway Peninsula, he could see me "coming to life." That's just how he described it.

He did something any gentleman--any good man--can and should be willing to do for a lady: He watched my purse and shoes as I traipsed through sand into just enough water so that when the tide rolled in, the bottom few inches of my skirt were soaked. Then again, I was wearing a skirt that came nearly to my ankles.

The shoes may not have been Jimmy Choos. And while I have not seen another purse quite like the one I was carrying, I don't think it would be included in any estate sales. Still, ya gotta love any man who did what Dominick did today.


Today was like yesterday, only warmer. The weather reports said the temperature in Central Park reached 92 degrees F today, but it felt more like 70 on the beach--even less when the wind stiffened.

I know it'll be a few weeks before the water's warm enough to swim: Even those splashes and swirls at my feet and ankles were enough to give me goose bumps! I know that swim season will be very short for me this year, as I won't be able to do that (and a lot of other things) for a long time after the surgery.

Am I projecting onto the world, or are there really more pregnant women than there have been in recent years? It seems that everywhere I look, I'm seeing at least one. Sometimes she looks like she's my age, or not much younger; other times, she's not long past being a baby herself; of course, most pregnant women are between those ages. But did the men of this world, ahem, found new ways of occupying their time this winter? Did they really give up ESPN? (I know what you're thinking: I've got ESPN!)

Of course, those women can't do some of the things I'm doing--like yesterday's bike ride--while new lives are growing inside them. And they need to rest for some time, and forego certain activities for some time after that. I'll be in the same, or at least a similar, situation after my surgery.

I've heard that some women's tastes change after they give birth. While they're pregnant, they crave foods they may not have liked previously to nourish the lives inside them. And they may not eat those foods again after their pregnancy. If that's true, I wonder what other tastes they gain or lose. One woman told me some of her choices in reading (not including the "how-to" books) shifted once she became a mother. For example, she said that she now loves Uncle Tom's Cabin, a novel she previously dismissed as overly sentimental.

Hmm... I wonder if my tastes will change so dramatically after the surgery. Whatever happens, I don't think I could lose my attraction to the ocean.