What unique activities could I be doing at the beach and the marsh over time to take better advantage of both while it's too cold for swimming, sunning, and the usual beach activities? Educational things, amateur science experiments/measurements, artsy craftsy things, exercise other than jogging, etc. Let your imagination run wild.
I live at the beach and near a marsh and do the usual pleasure/exercise activities you'd expect during warm weather, both in and out of the water. When it's cold, though, that list reduces to only occasional jogging/cycling, so I feel like I've kind of wasted my two winters here between working too much and not being able to do the warm weather activities.
I won't live here forever and want to take better advantage of it while I've got it. So what other interesting things could I be doing that don't involve swimming, sunning, sitting, being scantily clad, etc.? What are things specific to the beach that vacationers wouldn't really have the time or inclination to do that someone who lives here could do and enjoy over time?
Mostly solo things but also small group things or things that might make for an interesting date. Sciency, educational, fun, hobbyish, artsy/craftsy, exercisey. Really these things could be done anytime, not just in cold weather, but when it's warm I'm pretty much set already.
It just seems like I've got this specialized ecosystem right in front of my and could be doing interesting activities or ongoing experiments that take advantage of it. I could easily pop out there one or more times per day to check on something quickly or could bundle up for something extended on the weekends. I have all the sand in the world. What could I do with it or in it? I have all the water in the world. What could I do with it? I have dunes. I have wide a wide open treeless area forever in three directions. I have particular wildlife in and out of the water.
I'm not interested in fishing and I got the stunt kite bug out of my system years ago. Sand castles don't grab me. People surf here in cold weather using wetsuits but getting in that cold water is absolutely not for me. I don't have a boat of any kind and won't be buying something expensive like a
land windsurfer or sea kayak (no place to store stuff like that). I thought about photography but it's not grabbing me, not just for art's sake. But if I were using it in some more functional way, like to track the change of something over time, that might be neat.
I found this
children's book of experiments to do at the beach and from the Amazon reviews it sounds like adults have found it interesting too, so I'll give that a try. I've kind of daydreamed in the past about other experiments like testing the water for something over time, or some localized version of that thing where they release a fleet of little floating things in the water and track currents or whatever. I don't think the water here is clear enough, but I'd love to have a remote controlled submarine with a camera and lights attached and do
something like this, sending it out past the breakers to see what goes on out there beneath the surface, seeing what's on the bottom, confirming my shark swarm nightmares, rescuing treasure with a robotic claw, etc. And if not a sub, what neat task could I do with a little RC plane or helicopter aside from just the fun of flying it (which would wear off after a bit without some other purpose)? What about a sand tunneler if they exist outside of apocalypse movies? What about an RC boat to send out for samples or measurements of some kind?
Bonus add-on: There is an extensive marsh nearby, part of it more like a small river with trails alongside and part of it a huge maze of channels through the marsh grass. A friend of mine has a dock there and kayaks I can borrow. It's nice for exercise and would be great to fish there if I were a fisherman. But in such a unique ecosystem, there have got to be all sorts of neat things I could do there just like at the beach - educational, sciency, something with the water or the tides, the flora, the fauna, something artsty craftsy.
Whatcha got? I'm your man at the beach/marsh - use me! What would you like to learn or do or explore if you lived here? When I tell people what I'm doing, I want them to go, "Holy crap, that's so interesting!" Go blue sky on me and toss out your neatest ideas. We'll deal with any limitations later.
posted by The otter lady at 9:24 AM on December 2, 2010