Long Bay Beach, Tortola, British Virgin Islands
If you’re wondering how the name Somewhere in the Sand came about, here’s the scoop…. I have somewhat of a love (okay, obsession) for sand. I collect the stuff (yes, on purpose, and not just in uncomfortable, inappropriate places). My bathroom is a veritable chemistry lab, except, instead of beakers full of strangely colored liquids, it’s baby food jars filled with sand and shells. Carefully labeled and lined up, the jars boast sand scooped from beaches in Florida, North and South Carolina, Virginia, California and Hawaii (via relatives), and even the British Virgin Islands (ssshhhhh….that one might’ve been a little bit illegal).
Maybe it’s my name, maybe it’s the many summers spent on the beaches of the east coast (Ocean City, MD, Rehoboth Beach, DE, and Nags Head, NC), or maybe it’s nothing at all….just simply a love of that relaxed feeling of swaying palm trees, clear blue sea, and feet buried in warm, powder soft sand. Or maybe it’s one too many Jimmy Buffett songs, but that’s another story entirely.
When my sister was about two-years-old, her favorite book was about a penguin that hated the cold. This particular penguin, Pablo, spent the length of the story searching for somewhere warm, before finally “…sailing up onto the sandy beach.” As two-year-olds will do, she made the connection between a “sandy beach” and my name being Sandy. I was known as Sandy Beach for quite a while. Imagine a two-year-old saying Sandy Beach. Yeah…..somehow that didn’t scar me for life.
If my name were Shania, Shakira, or Cher, would I still have such an affection for sand? Of course. It would just come from far more exotic shores.
So, while my writing may cover mountain peaks, city streets, and country roads, you can rest assured that the thoughts and inspiration are always coming from somewhere in the sand. Oh, and my initials are S.E.A. Coincidence? I think not.
