Beach Days

Here in the midst of summer at the coast, I have been thinking about beach days, in particular their special dream-like timelessness. I've looked at photos of people at the beach taken over the years, and except for clues of costume and the technology of the toys, it is impossible to decipher the dates. There is a lovely universality to the doing and not-doing. The picture above was taken here just a few days ago, and to me it seems classic.

Another classic photo (below) was taken at a nearby beach in the 1930s. It's from the collection of the late Deborah Spalding Pelissero and was kindly shared by her son. I think it captures the same lazy, dreamy mood:

And one more...from early 2000s.