The day that made me wish I had a faster shutter speed on my camera was a day I had been waiting for and also avoiding during our entire vacation to San Diego. Normally the beach is appealing to me. But I nervously conjured up images in my mind of chasing after my two kids all day, making sure they weren’t venturing too far into the waves. I had nightmares featuring my daughter Madeline with a mouth full of salt water, gagging. I had visions of my son Max crying, rubbing his sand stung eyes. Basically, I over-thought the whole experience. But once we got there, the look on Madeline's face as she ran down the beach toward the water is something I will never forget. It was one of those wide eyed with wonder expressions that melts a mom’s heart. I tried to capture that expression, but it eluded the camera. She couldn’t stop exclaiming, "I love this! I love this!" Not to anyone in particular, but to the world was she proclaiming. Throwing her arms out as if to embrace the whole ocean and it’s shores, chasing her cousin through the water... all of this is now an expressionist painting in my mind. Max was quieter about his excitement. He ran through the waves a bit, but soon settled down to sift some sand. Grandpa taught him of the wonders that sand and a bucket of water can create. Soon Max became the maker and destroyer of hour glass worlds. Grandma introduced Madeline to the wonders of shell collecting. Every new shell she found was a treasure to her, a wonder. I was sure that a mouth full of salt water would send our precarious sand castle dreams tumbling. But salt in the mouth, sand in the eye, all combined to make us feel more keenly that we loved this day. Maddie and Max saved a few precious shells from that day. They are taken out carefully, almost reverently, to be sorted. They treat the shells as I do my photographs. I look at them and they bring me back to that perfect day at Torrey Pines State Beach, wishing I had a faster shutter speed on my camera.
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