Warmth, Continued

Today was the warmest day I have taken baby to the beach. She had on a thin jacket on top of her overalls, but she could have gotten away without it. The waves were just big enough to surf – 15 or 20 surfers were out; the sun was brilliantly reflected in the shallow water between sandbars; people were radiant with spring happiness. And one of those people was baby, whose dad held her feet a few inches over the encroaching, weakened waves as she laughed and bicycled the air. I could have just about taken her socks off and dipped her feet in the water, but I didn’t want the shock to diminish her joy, or my own. Maybe we don’t live in an absurd place, after all.