SITTING AND ROCKING BY THE SEASHORE by Maria Hudgins

I have recently returned from the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the hands-down best way to get “Sand in our Shorts.” The waves are reasonable-not too big, not too small. The sand is fine but not too fine. Dolphins, pelicans, and trawlers swim, fly, and motor by to keep you entertained. The sun sets behind you. Popular, but nowhere near as crowded as beaches elsewhere along the eastern seaboard. I’ve been going there every summer since Roosevelt was president. (Slight exaggeration)

The house my family rented this summer was oceanfront with a steep drop from the house to the tide zone. You never can tell what the winter storms will do to the shape of the beach. It made sliding down to the water much easier than trudging back to the house—a reminder that nature doesn’t owe you an easy trip.

This picture is of me and my brother sitting on the porch and talking. It reminds me of what I love about the southern states that border the Atlantic Ocean. It used to be called the Southern Story-Telling tradition. I remember my grandfather sitting on his front porch in the evenings while most of our little village strolled by and often stopped in for “a spell.” They would tell stories and exchange gossip. My grandfather was a great storyteller in the Southern tradition of “keep it interesting, but not necessarily the gospel truth.” Over time, the same story would grow and grow until it began to sound like a Paul Bunyan tall tale. But that was okay. Nobody was holding anyone to the details.

My own writing has been influenced by Truman Capote, Harper Lee, Margaret Maron, and William Styron. All of these are or were southern writers in the best meaning of that term. Writers who can tell a story you can’t put down. Can tell it in a way that sounds like what they would say if they were sitting on your porch. There is no pretense in this kind of writing. You get no feeling that they are trying to impress you with how smart they are. If I get the feeling an author is trying to impress me, I put the book down, just as I would if the companion on my porch was talking that way. I would excuse myself to get a glass of tea or something. Change the subject. Life’s too short for this sort of arrogance.

I like the system many beach rentals use to make your beach reading worry-free. They have a bookshelf filled mostly with paperbacks other guests have left and the rule is: If you finish a book while you are here, leave it. If you are still reading a book when you have to leave, take it with you. As a writer I like to examine all the books on the shelf to see what's popular now. Of course, if you bring Quantum Thermodynamics and finish it while there, you might not want to leave it because of the strong chance the next guests won't understand a word of it. 

But don't forget to put the book down occasionally and enjoy the shore itself. Take long walks. The things you will see will enrich your writing and lead you to new books you just have to read, like Audubon’s Field Guide to Shells. Have you ever found something really strange? Like a mermaid's purse?