You guys, I am so glad I decided to “challenge” myself this summer. (I know, it’s not much of a challenge to sit on a beach. But the challenge is in making the time to go somewhere new, instead of just staying home and going “Man, it’s hot out,” and turning the fan so it points directly at me.)

Because of the 10 Beaches/2012 project, I’ve gotten to check out some neat places and of course, spend time next to the ocean. In doing so, I’ve realized just how happy it makes me, and how essential it is for me to continue to be happy.

Even when I have my iPhone with me, as I did this particular day in Dominion, and can text people and still be contacted by people, it is so relaxing. To hear the wind, and feel it on my skin. To swim, and be totally immersed in the rocking, moving, cool ocean. To walk in my bare feet in the sand, feeling that texture. And to lay down on a towel and let the sun warm me to sleep.

I visited Dominion beach a couple of weeks ago, on August 24th. I had the day off. The weather was superb! I guess it really couldn’t rain on my day off, forever.

I drove out there and went to the Needs store for tortilla chips and a magazine.

I saw these ads tacked to the bulletin board as I was leaving and thought of Pamela Johnson’s “Urban Food Propagandist” group – people giving or selling produce in small amounts, locally.

The handwriting reminds me of that of my landlord in Fredericton, Neil, who was in his nineties, and still gardened. I like to imagine that these ads were put up by a Cape Breton version of him, a thrifty, elderly, yet still full-of-life man who gardens and sells his produce by putting ads up in the local convenience store.

I suppose I could call the number and find out, but sometimes it’s nice to just let the mystery be.

This is a close-up of the Nova Scotia Atlas. It’s the best atlas, ever. Have I said that before? Oh, I have? Oh…

You know my beach habits by now, surely: gotta draw something in the sand! This time it was a freehand version of our island.

There were a few other people there when I got there at 10 am, and more came over the next few hours. I love sitting and watching people at the beach. (Not creepily, of course. Just casually.) Hearing them laugh and talk together – “Oh these waves! Oh my god, I’m gonna DIE!” (That was one kid. He didn’t die.)

I love feeling my hair dry up with salt and get really wavy.

Then I had my typical beach lunch – salsa, tortilla chips, and cheese. This is my Mum’s typical beach lunch, she taught me to do this, and it’s super easy to pack. A bowl, a spoon, your ingredients and you’re set. You can wash the bowl and spoon in the ocean when you’re done.

To get there: Dominion beach is not hard to find at all. Just get yourself to Dominion and head for the water. On Seaside Drive, take Lower Mitchell Avenue and park.

Curious about my 10 Beaches/2012 project? Basically, this summer, I’m challenging myself to make it to ten separate beaches on Cape Breton Island. So far: Initial post, Point Aconi, Chimney Corner & Inverness, Gabarus & Fourchu, Kennington Cove, Florence, and now Dominion.