One of the things I really wanted to see on the trip was a beach on the Gulf of Mexico. So here we were, sorta kinda near one of those beaches, and we decide to go to Corpus Christi.
Corpus Christi is one of the most polluted cities in this great nation. Oil refineries have the cancer rate skyrocketing and people trying to move out of the city in droves, often unsuccessfully, since no one will buy their houses.
I wondered if the effects of the BP oil spill in the Gulf would still be evident here.
I wasn't sure I wanted to go to this particular beach.
We drove past the oil refineries. I recycle the air in the car - the smell was palpable. I could see why people were trying to leave.
The beach was thankfully far from the refineries, almost forty-five minutes south in the car, and it was, thankfully, beautiful.
Did I mention you can drive your car right onto it?
And down it, if you have four-wheel drive and some gumption. The speed limit is 15 mph.
I didn't see any effects from the oil spill.
The day was chilly, and the water was cold - but it didn't stop our family from having a splashing good time.
We come alive near the ocean.
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| Seriously, how could I not? |
Then Michael had a go:
We all took a run down the beach.
The kids built sandcastles.
We kicked and splashed in the waves and waded up to our waists.
We marveled at the sunset over the dunes.
We cried as trash washed in with the tide.
A lot of trash.
Condoms and Walmart bags and soda rings and water bottles and ... just garbage.
The sandpipers made mistakes - thinking the garbage might be food.
Horrible. Terrible.
I tossed some trash into the dumpster but it kept washing up.
How could people pollute something so beautiful?
Why do we pollute at all?
So. much. plastic.
It made me think seriously about eliminating it from my consumption all together.
Time to go.
The kids weren't ready.
But it was time.
The sun sank low over the horizon.
We had a gift card to Applebees.
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