It’s always nice when you’re going somewhere and the first thing that happens when you get there is you smile. Not a huge smile, but a smile that you’ll remember ‘cause you know its gonna be a good day.
Took the two-minute drive from my dad’s house to one of my favorite beach spots. Just to go walking in the shallows and look for a tako. He‘e. Squid. Octopus. By whatever name you’re familiar with; those shy, very intelligent creatures that inhabit our waters. And they taste pretty good too.
No one else at the beach. Not a soul. Early morning and slightly overcast. Not too hot, not too cold. Just right. Cigar is lit. Time to hunt tako.
Low tide is the best time to walk in the shallows and see what’s going on in the water. And there is a lot going on. You can see everything and everything can see you. At the first step into the water, your toes tell you it’s a little colder than you thought, but no worries, it will warm up quickly.
After three steps you forget what your toes told you, cause your focus is on seeing what’s going on in a watery world that could care less what you had for breakfast, how much gas you have in your tank, who gave you a bad time yesterday and what’s due tomorrow.
You hear but you don’t hear. One of the funny things about doing something you really like. You know your footsteps are making a noise. You know the tiny waves splash on the coral, there are cars passing by, but you hear nothing. Focus. Focus on the tako.
Half an hour of walking and turn around and head back. Cigar half done. Go back the same way but it’s different because your view is different. Funny how things look one way in one direction and totally different when you see then from another direction.
Back at the truck I see the only footprints going into the water and coming out of the water are mine. Good day. Had the place all to myself. Needed that. Tako? Not this time, but that’s okay. How does the song go? You don’t always get what you want, but you get what you need. And sometimes all you need is a little peace and a smile.