Summer's Bonus Level

A long time ago, back when video games had only two dimensions and very
obvious pixels, players of a certain skill (more than mine) could often
"earn" bonus levels between regular game levels, simply for fun and
extra points.

Last weekend was the summer's bonus level for us- extra fun that we
weren't expecting. On Saturday we drove the extra half hour to spend
the afternoon on a south shore beach at low tide. You can say what you
want about muddy south shore beaches lacking the world class white-sandy
glamour of the north shore (where we live) but our daughters are still
talking about the fish, crabs, barnacles and snails that shared their
afternoon adventure. Not bad for September 8th... We had only planned
on making a sand castle, hanging out for a while and then leaving. It
was much more fun than that.

That night the adventures continued. The girls and I finally managed to
spend a night camping in our yard. We made several discoveries that
night. First, there's a surprising amount of traffic on our road after
10PM. Second, despite its many imperfections and weeds, our lawn makes
a reasonably comfortable mattress, at least through the tent bottom.
And third, adventurous fun can be had 20 feet from our house. Happily
both girls and I made it through the night safe and warm.

B.