The sea and the sand

A week on Florida's Emerald Coast with my partner's family has taught me the following:

• sand can get in one's bathing suit without one's knowing it
• sunscreen is GOD
• poptarts, chocolate donuts, and ice cream are the recommended Florida vacation snacks
• there really are sharks lurking in the clear blue waters
• the best way to ride the waves is with an eight-year-old named Jacqueline

What comforting words does the Dickinsonian oracle have for those of us with post-vacation blues who are home in Minnesota where it is more humid and stormy than it is in Destin, Florida, in late June?


I think that the Root of the Wind is Water -
It would not sound so deep
Were it a Firmamental Product -
Airs no Oceans keep -
Mediterranean intonations -
To a Current's Ear -
There is a maritime conviction
In the Atmosphere -
(E. Dickinson, 1295)