Independence Day

Today was a beach and picnic day. At 10am we boarded a ferry in back of our hotel for a 25 minute ride westward from downtown Hamilton in the direction of the mouth of the harbor. We were deposited at a dock on other bank of the long inlet that forms the harbor, whereupon we boarded buses for the short (two miles?) ride up and over a steep ridge and down to the Fairmont Princess beach at Southampton. We spent the next several hours enjoying a beautiful day and beautiful beach. I know I'm not alone in this, but, for me, there's something utterly renewing about walking along the liminal border between earth and sea, warm waves gently lapping my ankles and shins. It is a mystical place. I feel holistically connected to the mystery of my own life, and that life as it unfolds in the deathless love of the One who created it all.
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After regrouping, and washing sand off our bodies, we we shuttled up the hill on the north side of the harbor this time, right through downtown Hamilton, where a "picnic" awaited us (hamburgers, hot dogs ... and prime rib) on the manicured grounds of Fort Hamilton (now abandoned by Her Majesty's forces, with a few canons left behind as mementos). A talented live band entertained us, and tickled the ears of the predominantly Baby Boomer crowd with a repertoire drawn exclusively from the 60s and 70s. Even I recognized most of the songs.

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