Summer Vacation

Schools are out for summer vacation! The kids are all very excited. The teachers are exhausted. Everyone is looking forward to sleeping in, going to the beach, traveling, and enjoying the long summer days.

Kids playing in the sand left the face you see in the photo. I'm very lucky to be living right across the street from the beach. During the spring, there weren't many people on our beach. Now there are lots of families swimming in the Pacific Ocean and playing in the sand.

Can you see the sun dial in this photo? It is across the street from my house. A sun dial is what people from long ago used to tell time before they invented clocks. The piece of metal sticking up casts a shadow on the face of the table when the sun shines on it. There are Roman Numerals around the table top. The shadow will fall on the number to show the time. In other words, the shadow will be on the II when it is 2:00. It will be on the IV when it is 4:00. (The beach is behind the sand dunes, on the other side of the grass.)

There are lots of activities going on at the beach. Sometimes we see people paragliding onto the beach. They have a rectangular parachute, like the one you see in the photo. They jump off the high cliffs behind our house and then catch the upward wind currents coming off the ocean. These currents of wind keep them up so they can go back and forth along the shore. When they are ready to come down, they steer themselves over the sand for a soft landing. The guy in this photo started off from the beach instead of a cliff. He has a motor attached to the chair hanging from his parachute. He still needs the wind to take him up, but he has more control than those without a motor.

There are lots of surfers at the beach, as well as people wind surfing. A windsurfer is surf board with a sail attached to it. It looks like a sailboat sail. The person windsurfing stands on the board, with feet strapped on, and holds onto a handle on the sail to steer it. This way, he can catch the wind and glide across the water. He's very fast.

Another popular beach sport is kite surfing. This uses a surf board and a rectangular parachute. The kite surfer stands on the surf board, with her feet strapped on, and holds the strings of her parachute. She holds the strings so the parachute catches the wind and pulls her and her board across the water. She goes even faster than the windsurfer! If she raises the parachute upward, the wind pulls the parachute up and it lifts her and her board clear out of the water where she can spin 360s in the air before landing in the ocean again! You need very strong arms and legs to do this sport!

Kayaking is yet another popular activity at our beach. Can you see the kayakers in this photo? You may need to click on it to enlarge the picture. Then click the back button to return to this page. The kayakers paddle out and then ride the waves in toward shore. Fun!

We are all on holiday for the next month and a half. Schools will re-open on February 9, 2007. February is the beginning of the school year, so all of the kids will move up a grade, just as you do is September. Does that seem strange to you? Have you ever wondered why your new school year begins in September, rather than at the beginning of the calendar year in January?

CLICK HERE to see who else is enjoying summer fun on the beach!