Gift from the Sea

This book, "Gift from the Sea," by Anne Morrow Lindbergh - wife of famed aviator, Charles Lingbergh - was a gift to me, in anticipation of our journey to the sea.

The opening paragraph begins, appropriately, like this:

"The beach is not the place to work; to read, write or think. I should have remembered that from other years. Too warm, too damp, too soft for any real mental discipline or sharp flights of spirit. One never learns. Hopefully, one carries down the faded straw bag, lumpy with books, clean paper, long over-due unanswered letters, freshly sharpened pencils, lists and good intentions. The books remain unread, the pencils break their points and the pads rest smooth and unblemished as the cloudless sky. No reading, no writing, no thoughts even - at least, not at first."