my new favorite sound

We went camping last week, lucky to have been invited to San Onofre, a private beach campground on the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base. We've done our share of beach camping over the years, but nothing compares to having your Westy parked in the shade only 32 girl-sized steps from the crashing waves of my Pacific. 

Here's a little perspective of the awesomeness of that campground

Surfers constantly meander to and fro - civilians have to stay below the berm, whatever that is, and only military peeps can enter the base, but that's a very famous surfing beach over yonder so the peeps walk all the way up from the public side of the beach to get to upper Trestles.

Looking south, and observing a curious game of catch with a medicine ball, with rigorous penalties enforced on anyone who dropped the ball.  You'll be shocked to know that the guy who invented this game also happened to be our military sponsor.

The water was warm and inviting, and the kids spent all the days frolicking in the surf. Please notice that at the threshold between sand and sea, there is a small corridor of smooth rocks that must be traversed to get  into the water.

The waves would come in and cover up the rocks

And then go back out to reveal them

It was a mesmerizing cycle, 24 hours a day, the waves would come in and cover the rocks  

Then the water would recede and leave the rocks behind

Nestled right in between all of these ins and outs was a lovely interlude that I soon came to adore. For the brief moment when the trajectory of each wave met the resistance of land and was refracted back seaward, those smooth rocks would stir and mingle   

Like they were agitating in a washing machine

So that after the crash of each wave coming ashore, in the moment of quiet before the next wave took its turn, there was a melody of collision as the rocks knocked around into each other

and then grew still

My boy said that I smiled every time we heard it. We heard it after every wave, for three days, without ever leaving that campsite.

I can still hear it.


It's my new favorite sound.