Beach Umbrellas

My beach umbrellas at Pensacola Beach

For some reason I love beach umbrellas. Maybe it's the bright, festive colors and the variety of designs? Maybe it goes back to my childhood? I don't remember having a beach umbrella when I was a kid, so maybe I always wanted one?

Currently I happen to be the proud owner of two colorful beach umbrellas. I had a third one last summer, but on a blustery beach day a gust of wind pulled it out of the sand and sent it somersaulting end over end down the beach. In no time at all it was out of sight. My umbrella was only one of several that were blown away that day.

On the sugar-white sand beaches of the Florida Panhandle, beach umbrellas are a must, along with plenty of sunscreen and lots of cold drinks. I prefer icy bottled spring water, but alcohol is allowed on most of our beaches. Though glass bottles are not allowed. The white sand is so intense that it's easy to get sunburned from the reflected light. So you can get sunburned under your nose and chin, the backs of your knees, even behind your ears. When not swimming or picking up seashells, I'm sitting under an umbrella and usually reading a book. Though often I just sit and gaze at the water. That's probably the most peaceful moments in my life.

Growing up in southern California I never wore sunscreen. I guess we didn't know about holes in the ozone and skin cancer back then? So I grew up being suntanned year around, with a liberal sprinkling of freckles. When we moved to Florida I didn't use sunscreen then either, though we did have a big beach umbrella. It was a giant, heavy, unwieldy thing with a metal post and a drab shade of green. Our next umbrellas were smaller, lighter weight and with triangles of primary colors. It wasn't until a few years ago that we bought our bright, festive ones. The one with the flowers is my favorite. Given a choice, I'd have a dozen assorted beach umbrellas, one for every occasion or mood.

Somewhere along the way we finally learned about those ozone holes and the risk of skin cancer. Since then sunscreen has been part of our regular beach paraphernalia. These days I'm only lightly tanned, but I have even more freckles than before to made up the difference. The dermatologist I went to a while back said, "You might as well get used to being spotted." Gee thanks! It's a good thing I happen to like freckles.

Through the years I've taken numerous photos of beach umbrellas. It's just one of those things that catches my eye. Most of those old 35mm photos are now packed up in boxes in the laundry room closet or on disks tucked away here and there.

A photo of  beach umbrellas and unknown people

I  do oil paintings now and then. So maybe one of these days I'll search out those old photos and do a series of beach umbrella paintings? I think that would be a fun series to paint.

I'm reminded of beach umbrellas today, because of the holiday weekend. For someone like me, this is the perfect time to wander down to the beach and photograph umbrellas. My husband, on the other hand, says beach umbrellas are the last thing he looks at on the beach.