While I do love a nice hike in my local nature preserve or even just sitting in my beautiful backyard, by far my favorite form of nature, and the most soothing to me, is the ocean. Other forms of nature might be headache triggers due to odors; strong, tree-filtered light; and allergens like pollen. But other than the light and glare which are hard to avoid no matter where you go, the beach always relaxes me. It is where I go when I meditate, when I need to remove myself during extreme pain.

I was lucky enough this past week to get to enjoy Cape May, New Jersey again with my extended family. It’s where J and I were married in 2001. Last year I was barely able to leave our air conditioned bedroom due to a year-long extremely bad bout with pain; in fact I had to go to a nearby ER twice. This year I avoided that fate, though we did have to stay in a motel one night because of our house not being air conditioned, and I did miss a lot. However I was able to enjoy the ocean, and take plenty of pictures.

Until next year….