We went to the beach because it was going to be the last summer to go to that particular stretch of beach. Nature had been washing out the parking lot, and the town finally decided to give up trying to save that patch of land and instead spent the last two years moving the beach a mile or two down the road.

It has been a long goodbye. We thought last summer was the last summer, but they pushed the move back one summer. We went to the beach last winter to watch them demolish the nature center. It has only been a few months, but the grass currently covers the old ground as if the building never existed.

*******

We went to the beach because it was going to be the last time we could go on the Haunted Mansion ride. We go every year for my birthday, and they announced this winter that they were closing the ride at the end of this summer and building a new Haunted Mansion ride using the original designer to open in 2028. I didn’t want a new ride. I wanted my janky old Haunted Mansion.

We got to the park over a half hour before the ride opened, but the line was already past the end-of-line marker. We got in the queue, and the woman in front of us commented that the entire state had shown up this summer to have one last ride. I love that thought; that we all made this pilgrimage across the marsh grasses and yellow sand to reach this ride, one last time.

Before we went, I thought we might go on a few times. But we got our one turn and left after I whispered goodbye to Frankenstein’s monster.

*******

We went to the beach because it was going to be the last summer I knew we would all be together. We weren’t even really together. We were mostly apart. But I really don’t know where they’ll be after they graduate. It’s like their senior year of high school x 1000. At least then I knew they would have breaks back at home.

I know we’ll still travel together, but we’ll have to make hard choices. If they have limited vacation time, we’ll have to choose whether they want to do A or B. We don’t know if we’ll all be able to take off at the same time. I hate not knowing how things will turn out.

Every summer since they’ve been two, we’ve taken the same photo in front of the same statue in the town center. We missed a year during the pandemic, but we mostly have a visual timeline from toddlerhood to grownupland. I made them stand in front of the statue when we went into town to pick up dinner. I didn’t care that we were all sandy from the beach, our hair frizzy and clothes sunscreen-stained. They stood side by side and smiled, and I snapped, wondering if we’d get to do it again next year.

I have been obsessed with going to Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, and 84% of the reason is the carnival game Galoppen. Everyone is assigned a horse in the “race,” and you roll balls to advance your horse. If the ball rolls into one of the holes, it jumps forward one, two, or three steps (depending on how difficult it is to reach the hole).

I’m not sure this video really captures the game, but it definitely captures the spirit of competition.

Anyway, I’ve wanted to go to Tivoli Gardens to play Galoppen. A few weeks ago, we were on the boardwalk at the beach — a beach only two hours from my home! — and what do I see but GALOPPEN IN AMERICA. My brain could not process that if I could elbow dozens of children out of the way, I was going to get to play Galoppen. And even better, with the exchange rate, a round of Galoppen at Tivoli Gardens costs over $3. And this Galoppen was a flat $2.

Josh told me I couldn’t elbow the children, so we had to wait two rounds to get four seats at the table. I plunked down $8, and we practiced our ball rolling skills while we waited for everyone to get settled. The announcers told us that we were going to be playing for a big horse stuffed animal, and she motioned to two choices: a grey one and a brown one.

“If any of us win, I want the brown one. Did you hear me? I want the brown one,” I hissed at my family.

And then… WE WERE OFF! I was rolling balls like my life depended on it. I didn’t even look up at my horse to see where it was on the board because (1) I was terrible at Galoppen, and (2) I was frantically hoping to get a ball in the red hole, which would advance it three steps. The buzzer sounded, and the announcer screamed, “We have a winner.”

It wasn’t me.

But it was Josh!

And I shook his arm and screamed, “The brown one! The brown one!” when they offered him a choice.

We all love the horse, who currently lives on the sofa. Except maybe Josh, who keeps asking if the horse really needs its own cushion.

It’s a good life reminder that you never know when something amazing will happen and then get even better.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

*******

The New York Times had a thought-provoking opinion piece (that I hopefully shared as a gift link) that said people should wait to use AI tool until they were in their 40s.

They write: “We have been so quick to treat access to new technology as an inevitability that we have failed to question whether every powerful tool should be placed in the hands of every developing mind the moment it becomes available.”

Do little kids really need the Internet, or should they learn to find information in books? Should we encourage everyone to type, or encourage slower thought through handwritten expression? I didn’t agree with everything the person said, but they gave me a lot to think about.

*******

Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts connected to businesses or sponsored posts.

We’ve been watching a show called Unacceptable, where comedians express and defend their unacceptable opinion. They poll the audience when the opinion is first stated to see how many agree, and then poll them after the comedian has defended their position to see if they’ve swayed any hearts. The opinions are usually ridiculous. It’s a lot of fun.

You know what isn’t a lot of fun?

Music at the beach. That’s my unacceptable opinion. I think music played in public from speakers (vs. privately via headphones) should be banned, or if it can’t be banned — because let’s face it, smoking is banned at the beach and so many people around us were smoking — there should be a silent section of the beach similar to the quiet car on a train.

Who is with me?

When I go to the beach, I want to hear the waves. I know I’m also going to hear children shrieking and people talking loudly, but I still want to be able to hear nature along with those sounds. We had a family set up next to us and start blasting folk music. This was a day after a person set up speakers to blast opera — OPERA! — across the sand. Anyway, the family was blasting folk music, and the boy between us turned on his phone and started blasting country music back at them, and they both kept turning up the volume until I picked up my chair and moved down to the water.

There are so many ways to privately enjoy music in public, and plenty of private spaces to enjoy music collectively. But listening to music from a speaker in public? I think it should be banned. That’s my unacceptable opinion.

It is so quiet on the internet and at work that it feels like the whole world collectively went on vacation. On one hand, it’s super helpful to have everyone away at the same time because then no one misses anything. On the other hand, it’s super difficult to have everyone away at the same time because nothing gets done.

By which I mean that I send a lot of emails that float off into the void.

I’m not great with slow. I like things to keep moving forward. Though I’m sure I’ll miss this pace when everyone returns from wherever they are.

*******

Stop procrastinating. Go make your backups. Don’t have regrets.

Seriously. Stop what you’re doing for a moment. It will take you fifteen minutes, tops. But you will have peace of mind for days and days. It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

And now the blogs…

*******

But first, second, helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week. To read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff.

Okay, now my choices this week.

The Road Less Travelled posts about World Childless Week and the daily topics. It’s the 10 year anniversary of the project. Go give it your support, whether you write a post or read.

Lastly, Scientist on the Roof writes about all the things we miss from our travels. Even if you don’t want to move, you can’t help but point to certain aspects of another country’s day-to-day life and say, “I wish we had that, too.”

The roundup to the Roundup: Summer slow down. Your weekly backup nudge. And lots of great posts to read. So what did you find this week? Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between August 14 – 21) and not the blog’s main URL. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week. Read the original open thread post here.