Whenever someone says, “go to your happy place,” the image that always pops into my head is the beach just outside our family cottage.
While most people like the beach for the sun and the sand, it’s around dusk that you really start to see why it’s my favourite. There are wild claims from my family that Southampton has the most beautiful sunsets in Canada. Whether that is true or not, the sunsets there are breathtaking.
Tradition calls for everyone to stop what they are doing as the sun starts to going down to gather outside on the bench. Feet dug into the cooling sand as everyone sits quietly and admires the orange glow across the sky. Without a doubt, someone will bring up another wild claim, that if you watch the sunset intently, you will see the green flash as the sun disappears below the horizon. It never goes unchallenged, with shaking heads and sighs, eventually, the topic will get dropped, there is no winning, only letting go.
While everyone goes back to what they were doing, playing cards, starting the fire, doing the dishes, I usually stay on the beach as long as I can stand it. Even in summer, the nights get chilly. Sometimes I head back in and then sneak back out around 10:30.
Everything is dark and quiet. I lay on the beach, staring up at the array of stars that I never get to see in the city. The sand is cool and there is usually a breeze as the waves of Lake Huron rush up onto the beach.
It’s calming. It’s peaceful. It’s my favourite place.
Stephanie Fraser 