Living in a Beach Boys song

A few weeks ago I was bored and browsing photography contest websites. I found one that I considered entering, but I ran out of time to compile/take pictures and I was too chicken to enter. But I've been thinking about it ever since. The contest theme was Homeland--where you live now, not necessarily where you were born. So here's what I would have entered and why.

When I was eight years old, my dad bought a cassette tape of Endless Summer by the Beach Boys. I loved it. My siblings and I would bring our tape player out and blast "Surfin' Safari" as we roller skated in the driveway. And even though I only knew the "inside outside U.S.A." part of the chorus of "Surfin U.S.A.", I sang along with gusto.

A few years ago I decided I was going to learn the real chorus. As I read the lyrics, I discovered that they were listing surfing beaches. Not only that, I had been to many of those beaches, or at least knew where they were and had driven past in the last year or so. I was living in a Beach Boys song.

In a nutshell, that's what makes this place so special to me. We do have an endless summer, with 80-degree days in December and sunshine almost every day. I've always loved the ocean, and now I can be at the beach with my toes in the sand in 10 minutes. I love the craziness of the beach on a big summer weekend. But more than that, I love the quieter months when I can enjoy the waves without the crowds. That's why I love my homeland.