Hunting Island: Where I pondered the big questions and got all that sunburn

tkscovill ♦ July 4, 2012 ♦ 1 Comment

Atlantic Ocean from Hunting Island State Park

This is the view I have been waiting for. I spent so much time here when I was young, both as a child and as a young adult. Hunting Island State Park is a gem at the southern tip of South Carolina. It has seen many hurricanes and had much of its sand sucked out into the Atlantic. Its lighthouse has been moved at least twice in my lifetime. It is a dream beach for me. I like my privacy when I go to the beach. For me it is a place to meditate and soak in the subtleties of the natural world. As I remember it, there is always enough space here for everyone. And that horizon opened up the world to me. I would come early in the morning with my lawn chair and towel and bag of goodies and would rotate my chair with the sun so I got a perfectly even tan on my young innocent body. Sometimes I would stay all day, using cocoa butter and baby oil to intensify the sun’s effect. Most days I left with a sunburn. Some days I left with blisters. I didn’t know about sunscreen back then. I just wanted to be tan like all those girls on tv. 

That lesson has been learned. There is no tan in my future. But I can still enjoy the beach and the sun as long as I use common sense.

On July 2nd (Sam’s birthday) when Sam and I went there we set up in the shade and slathered on the sunscreen.

ahh, finally!

  We dipped our feet into the water and stood there until we felt the sun penetrating through the sunscreen. 

our feet in the Atlantic Ocean

Our visit to Hunting Island lasted only a couple hours since it was so hot, even in the shade, and there was no breeze. It was still and hot and determined to stay that way. But we got our fix. I stared at the horizon that I have stared at hundreds of times in the past. I saw a calm ocean with warm water. I saw happy beach combers, wandering here and there. I saw children basking in the perfection of a summer day. On that straight, flat horizon, I saw emptiness and potential. I saw myself sitting here in this very spot many more times. Life is truly good. 

No worries. We will be back.