Are We From Indiana?

Today was one of those perfect spring days when the sun seemed to come up extra early, the birds were outside the windows singing, and the chill from the night air vanished with the darkness. The forecast was for the temperatures to reach the 80's so I was pretty excited. It has been a brutal winter for us in Southern California. We have had 2.20 inches of rain since last July, the night time temperatures have been plunging into the lower 50's, and daytime temps have barely reach 70. As you can see, we are ready for the warmth of spring.

So today, we decided to take the family down to the beach to enjoy the day playing in the sand. During our grueling 8 mile journey towards the beach we began to realize that today would not work out as we had hoped. In the final 1/2 mile of the journey, the fog from the cold Pacific Ocean was so thick that we could barely see the water. But, we said we were going to the beach, so we journeyed ahead.

The beach was legitimately cold, the water was only 57 degrees, the wind was blowing, and the fog was dense. When I used to live in Washington state this would have been considered a fine summer day at the ocean, but I have long since been cleansed of that disillusion. The only people at the beach were surfers in their winter wet-suits, couples bundled in their winter coats enjoying a romantic walk, and my family in our board shorts and sandals. As my boys played in the sand and eventually in the frigid waves of the Pacific, I began to feel a little self-conscious. Days like these we usually only see tourists from places like Indiana playing in the water. You know, the people who traveled to California to go the beach and who were not going to let cold weather get in the way. These are also the people who think 60 degrees is warm for winter so why not play in the water.

Today we were the tourists. We were the ones that the locals were looking at and thinking, "they must be from Indiana". In fact, at one point a family dressed in winter coats, Disneyland hats (a tourist flag), and Virginia accents walked passed us with astonished looks in their eyes. Even the tourists thought we were nuts. Then I thought what the people from Indiana must think... having fun with family always trumps impressing the locals. It also didn't hurt that we did not see anyone we know.