Sedentary Playtime

I was never an active kid growing up. While my sister and brothers would run around like monkeys on too much sugar whenever we went to the beach, I would quietly sit on the sand (far enough away from the ocean to not get wet, but close enough to the ocean to have access to as much wet sand as I wanted) with my orange bucket and purple plastic shovel to just dig. I could stay in the same area on the beach without moving for hours. When I did decide to move, it was only to collect shells so that I could go back to my little spot and play pirate. I would hide shells in the sand and dig them up to only hide them again. I would sometimes get creative and draw a map in the sand of where each shell was hidden. Sometimes I would catch sandcrabs, “bury” them, and try to find them. I would rarely find the same sandcrab that I hid, but back then I believed that every crab I found was the same crab that I hid. If, for some reason, I got bored of playing pirate with myself, I would go closer to the ocean and just sit crisscross applesauce on the sand and let the waves envelop me as they washed in. Sitting on my butt and letting my mind wander was playtime to me. I think that is why when I was introduced to surfing, I immediately fell in love with the activity. Ninety percent of surfing is just chilling in the water and waiting for a wave, you can let your mind wander. But when you do find the perfect wave, you get to play a small game of tag to catch the wave and ride it.