Crane Beach when I was little was that place my dad took my siblings and I. We would build sandcastles around him as he slept in his chair. It was the place that my bumble bee kite got picked up by the wind and took a nose dive into the ocean. During my disgusting middle school years, the beach was that annoying place where Greenhead flies swarmed and my mom would force me to stay after her work until dinner time. When I was a teenager, the beach was that place my friends and I snuck in at night to go skinny dipping and hang out with a lack of supervision.

Going away from the beach and off to the woods in upstate New York for college has definitely has given me a new appreciation for the steady waves of the beach. To quote the movie, "What about Bob?" it gave a chance to take a vacation from my problems. Living so close gives me the luxury to take even 40 minutes to go there and feel relaxation. I can go and do one of my favorite things ever, which is taking a nap on the warm soft sand. I now often go, no matter what season, with my friend Emily for a walk to just to catch up. She and I have gone in the middle of winter in our big puffy coats just to get away from everything for a little while. I appreciate those moments where for just a little bit I can sit in the sand and let my mind go blank.

Crane Beach still has the same sand I built sandcastles in as a little kid. It still has the same Greenheads flying around in July. It's the same water that I took a night swim in as a teenager. Crane Beach is that consistent place that never changes, but my mentality towards it has. I have grown to realize that it is rare to find such a place. As life has been getting more chaotic with the stress of my fast approaching senior year I value it more and more. Crane Beach has been my rock, its a place that I can for a short time and feels relaxed.