Signs of Summer

I think summer is here and not just because it was hotter today. I went down to the beach for my first after-dinner sunset walk this evening. I don't think I've done that since last fall. It was after 7:30, and it was still balmy with a lovely breeze.

Here are the signs of summer:

• people clinging to the beach; wanting just a little longer before packing things up, washing off feet, heading back inside for the night.
• a kid crying because of the above 
• a red-necked man, with white legs and a generous belly, out on the balcony leaning into the sunset, perfectly still, relieved for the moment from the busyness of life. 
• a tall, muscular man, wading in the edge of the water with a 2-ft. little person in a pink-striped romper attached to his index finger - the look of terror and joy on the little person's face.
• a limp kite, half buried in the sand beside a sand-bucket castle slowly eroding into the tide.
•  adolescents walking hand-in-hand, hopelessly in love and lust
• jellyfish, who traveled here to die at Emerald Isle, rolling up and back with the waves.

What a night. What a sunset. How did summer come so quickly?