All This Was Mine Today

Pile in the van
Throw in some girls and snacks
Burrard Inlet the destination
It finally feels like summer.

Pull the wagon and walk the path
Past families eating and cooking and playing together
Sounds of many tongues
Korean barbecue piled high on grills
The smell intoxicates you.

Snow-capped North Shore mountains rise above you
As you breath in the salt-scented air.
Waves roll in
Crunchy shells break beneath our feet
Grains of sand in between my toes
Sticky fingers  - sunscreen coated
Kayaks and freighters roll with the waves.

Treasures and discoveries
Sea-stars and jelly-fish
Rocks with shadows where barnacles once lived
Clams and tiny crabs
Sheets of seaweed
Gathered, collected and examined -
They made quite a haul.

Hot sun and cool breeze
Good book's pages turning
I glance up and see
Sun kissed bodies bending over nearby -
Building the next great structure of sand.
Not many moments are better than this.

Just me and the girls
Hot van and dirty hands
Soon hold cold cups
Filled with slurpees of red, pink, green and white.

Piles of sandy laundry
Tanned bodies scrubbed clean

All this was mine today.