“Total physical and mental inertia are highly agreeable, much more so than we allow ourselves to imagine. A beach not only permits such inertia but enforces it, thus neatly eliminating all problems of guilt. It is now the only place in our overly active world that does.”
–John Kenneth Galbraith
Today we spent a bulk of the day lounging on Crane Beach in Ipswich. There was more sun than last weekend’s beach trip, and hence more crowds, more sunscreen, and more incentive to dip into the 61-degree water.
Here I am in Mr. Pinault’s wet suit. I had never worn a wet suit before, and was a bit alarmed at its snug fit. But it did keep me warm and buoyant enough to swim for about 10 minutes, until I grew paranoid of any errant great white sharks who might mistake me for a baby seal. So I plowed out of the water — a bit of a spectacle, yes — and peeled off the wet suit to enjoy the enforced enertia of my beach towel.
