The Pales -- a family we've never met, but know so well.

So, you know how when you go to the same beach access the same week every summer for about 367 years you see some of the same people over and over and over again..... not just the ones you are related to and planned vacation with, but the ones you've never talked to.  You know them the people you've created back-stories for in your mind.  What?  You don't do that?  This might not be the blog for you.

Introducing the "Pales."   A family of five, dad, mom, daughter, son, grandfather.  We see them regularly.  We should just go talk to them one of these years, but we've got a lot of other stuff going on from our beach chairs, what with all the people walking by who bought their bathing suits without the benefit of a mirror, and counting of children's heads in the surf, and solving the problems of the world, and re-counting those kids heads again and again.....  And besides that we'd have to get out of our beach chairs and walk at least 20 feet to go talk to them which requires way more effort than either of us are capable of once seated at Beach Access 31.  We haven't talked to them in person yet, but we know they are very nice people who count their own children's heads in the surf, buy age and size appropriate bathing suits, occasionally get in the water all together, and build awesome sand castles -- both drip and bucket style.  The Pales keep a nice neat site on the beach, they eat healthy snacks, they don't feed the seagulls (don't get us started on this one!) and most importantly they slather on that sunscreen like no ones business.  A family we could all model our Beach Access 31 lives after!

This year's beach trip was Pale-less, as was summer 2012.  We were worried in that sit-in-your-beach-chair-for-hours kind of way.  Did something happen to grandpa pale?  Couldn't be, he's so fit and active.  Did dad Pale lose his job?  No, he's obviously a successful dermatologist.  Did Pale son perhaps fail 5th grade and need to go to summer school?  Never. In his back-story Pale son is brilliant and well behaved and always walks the dog when asked.  (The dog doesn't come to the beach with them in case you're wondering; he stays in a well-appointed kennel at home.)   Perhaps we scared them away and they were now camped out at Beach Access 30, or worse a Beach Access with an actual lifeguard!  We thought our stalking was purely theoretical, and wouldn't scare anyone away.  Were we wrong?  Had we become Pale repellant?

Phi and her family left the beach a day before we did, so while barely enjoying our last few lonely hours at Beach Access 31 who should casually stroll past?  Yes, you guessed it!  Grandpa Pale.  I'm sure he didn't wonder at all why five beach weary people under a striped umbrella were cheering..... quietly..... sort of. 

All is well in the world.  We left Beach Access 31 in the capable hands of the Pales.