The lull of the waves.

The repetitive sounds of waves hitting the sand is so soothing, and equally so, at least in a calm ocean, is the lulling motion of the waves when you are floating in the sea. It was a very conscious decision to leave home for a tropical place at this particular time. We did the same thing eight years ago for the first Trump inauguration. Although I did watch part of it then, and more of the pink hat march. Loring went for a swim then. This time neither of us had any desire to watch. And even though one is still aware of events taking place, just by virtue of being in another place, where you know that most people are not focussed on the event, makes it much more tolerable. Today we had another sumptuous breakfast at the hotel. They serve from 8 am to 10 am. We have seen almost no other people eating at the restaurant. Wondering if perhaps breakfast doesn't come with every reservation. There are somewhat more people at dinner. Although nothing like our first night, Friday, when there was live music and a bigger crowd. I am glad that breakfast comes with ours. Today it was the Americano breakfast, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, bacon, toast, fruit salad. It was more than I could eat. This may be the first time in my life that I turned down bacon. There was so much that I gave two slices to Loring. This is our last day here. Tomorrow we leave at noon for Las Terrenas, where we will stay for the remaining 12 days of our visit. It's not that far in miles, but a three and a half hour drive. We haven't had a car here, and haven't needed one, nor will we in Las Terrenas. The only thing I would have wanted to see here is the center of town. Loring did walk down there along the beach this morning, while I established myself on the sand between stands of lounge chairs and umbrellas. I might have been tempted to rent one, but we didn't have any money with us. The one guy who approached us said it would be 500 pesos for two chairs and an umbrella, about eight dollars. So I guess it would have been around $4 for one, not unreasonable. But I am ok lying on a towel in the sand as long as I have something to use as a pillow, in this case Loring's towel while he was walking down the beach and swimming back. However, shortly after I lay down on the beach it began to rain. And continued, more than the brief shower it often is in places like this. Although it's warm and not really unpleasant in the rain, I didn't really relish trying to read while getting rained on. So after about fifteen minutes, with the sky not showing signs of quickly clearing, I walked back down the beach and onto our hotel deck. The lounge chairs we have been using there each day are not covered. But there are some comfortable chairs and sofas where I settled in. About fifteen minutes later Loring returned. At noonish we went back to our apartment and read for a while longer, then had lunch. I was not very hungry after our big breakfast, but knew I would be later if I didn't have something. We have been eating light lunches of cheese and bread or crackers, with some cucumber and tomato. We've had a very good hard cheese, perhaps cheddar, with cumin, and a soft queso fresco, a mild white cheese available in the supermarket at home. It's begun to rain again, a good time to write, but also quite pleasant on our porch overlooking the water. I am not expecting the rain to last much longer, and we'll then head out to our own section of the beach right in front of the hotel, It's somewhat quieter here today, as we'd guessed it might be, now that the weekend is over. The family with several kids who have spent the last few days here, the kids spending the entire day between the pool and the beach, has now gone, and we miss them. They were so friendly and joyful, and we enjoyed watching them. But there are still families with children along the beach who seem Dominican, as far as we can tell. I think the rain has stopped, so, time to head back to the beach.