Just what is a luxury?  The word tends to bring to mind those things you buy: fancy cars, expensive homes, designer clothes…

As I mulled the idea of a luxury I wouldn’t want to live without, I found myself thinking instead of just how fortunate I am.  My basic needs are met…and more.  I live in a beautiful city…a place that others choose for vacations.

The natives have been restless this week, our weather has been hot (for us) and we’ve had unusually high humidity too.  Weather has been the topic of conversation for everyone.  Most coastal dwellers don’t have air conditioning–we’re all much more used to carrying a sweatshirt at all times since it’s more likely to be chilly (for us) rather than too hot.  So we’re all whining and complaining about discomfort and wishing for greener (and more temperate) pastures.

As I headed off to the beach this evening for relaxation and relief from the heat (it’s starting to become a habit), I realized that it is our proximity to the ocean that is the luxury that I would prefer not to live without.  I love seeing the ocean in the distance as I sit in traffic on the freeway.  I love knowing which direction west is as I watch the sun set.  I love the briny smell of foggy mornings and the woody smell of bonfires along the shore.  I love the quirky behaviors of seabirds, watching them run along the shore with bills specially adapted for the food source they seek.  I love the piles of amber kelp that wash up and become jump ropes and sandcastle decorations and fun poppers exploding under my bare feet.

I love long walks, especially at low tide, with the white noise of the surf soothing my soul and relaxing that tight knot that often forms between my shoulder blades.  The beach is definitely a luxury–and I wouldn’t want to live without it.

What luxury would you not want to do without?