Day 2 cont.
There we were, my dad and I eating yogurt with forks. The height of improvisation if you ask me.
You know, it was funny seeing all of us together in such a conspicuous area, a Safeway parking lot. But you know, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Sure we were making a big mess in the process, I don’t think anyone cared all that much. Himani and Sanjay attempted to blend into the backs seats(or see if they could get swallowed by it) by sitting in the very back part of their car while eating their boxes of chicken. I tried to coax them out, but as expected, they refused to come out. They said they didn’t want to eat meat in front of the rest of us, who are vegan or vegetarian.
I personally appreciated the thought, but really, we’re not allergic to meat, so they didn’t have to fold themselves away like that. And yet they did, so, um word of advice for those of you out there who do eat meat:
Vegans and vegetarians(I sound like I’m writing the Declaration of Independence, yeah I’m following in the footsteps of my boy Thomas Jefferson)DO NOT CARE. We aren’t gonna shun you or anything, I mean we can’t judge you for your preference in food. There’s no need. That’s just the way you satisfy yourself and that’s perfectly okay! No judgment homies.
Anyway, we all cleaned up a bit and went to our respective cars, with our tummies now able to withstand a couple more hours. Sekar Peryiappa suggested we go to a beach that was a little ways away. Saying it was one they visited when they went a while before. I was pretty excited because I love going to beaches and playing in the sand and dipping my feet in the cool water. And it would be nice to get the fresh sea-like air, especially after sitting in a car and driving around so much. But I’ve never been to the beaches in Lake Tahoe, but I have been to Emerald Bay, but I thinks it’s technically not part of the Lake Tahoe area. But maybe it is, I don’t know.
The internet has betrayed me friends.
(ง’̀-‘́)ง
So Sand Harbor was the first beach we went to, and it was really quite nice. The sun, the breeze, the water, and the fresh air.
Well, to be honest, at first it wasn’t.
So there was a lot of sand, and it was really difficult to walk in since there were so many little dunes; due to many people having walked on the beaches. And my feet are really small, like really small. Like, I-can-fit-in-my-eight-year-old-brother’s-shoes-without-actually-struggling, small. And in my head I’m thinking:
“Well,
This is a problem.”
Babu peryiappa and my dad were walking ahead so I followed them, and it was seriously a struggle with my stubby legs and incredibly useless feet. Basically, while my dad and Babu peryiappa were peacefully walking along the beach, without a care in the world, walking with absolutely no hassle, probably talking about natural botanicals and how to associate them with your everyday diet or something. Or having a silent brotherly walk along the beach, reminiscence on past memories(and making fun of each other). And there I was, a couple feet behind them;
Fighting for my L I F E.
And
AND
It was really really windy too. My hair was flying everywhere so I probably looked like a witch that lost her broom(I wish I had a broom considering the situation)and it was really uncomfortable and it was chilly and there was sand getting in my shoes. The whole walking by the beach while contemplating life really wasn’t the look that nature was going to give me. The two men finally stopped walking and sat down; the sand dipped slightly downwards and into the waters. Soaking up the crystalline of the lake and into the sand.
The rest of our family caught up with us and maneuvered about. Himani, Sanjay, and Surya were off near a group of logs and fallen trees that were near the other entrance/exit. I decided to dip my feet in the water. I rolled up my jeans so the went a little above my ankles and walked out into the edges of the water. What I thought was going to be a nice relaxing soak in the water, ended up with me thinking I was gonna get pneumonia if I didn’t get my feet out of the tortuously freezing water. But after a while I started getting used to the feeling of the blood flow in my feet slowly declining. (I’m kidding)
The water felt refreshing and I wanted to stand there for much longer but I realized that if I didn’t get out soon, I wouldn’t be able to feel my feet for much longer after that. And I wasn’t planning on getting amputated any time soon; so I sat down next to my mom and dug my feet into the sand so they would warm up a bit, the sand stuck in between my toes, and the wind lapped in my hair. The water was clear and a gorgeous turquoise, and the sand was fine and grainy. And man it was just nice to feel the cool breeze and watch the the sun setting against the water. It felt good to stretch out and relax after a long day of just driving around the place.
But then, my dad piped up and said, “Whoever can keep there feet in the water for 30 seconds or more, will get five dollars.”
My dad couldn’t have made a bigger mistake than that, because when you’ve got a couple kids and teenagers together, that all have a bit of a competitive streak; and there’s money involved, well you’ve either got a peaceful play-by-play between loving cousins, or a nuclear war on your hands.. And thinking back to it now, I’m surprised someone didn’t wage a war, or ended up with pneumonia. The only reason I walked back and dipped my feet in the water again was only really because I wanted to see if I could beat the rest of my cousins.
Sanjay and Himani kinda stood on the sidelines watching us, while Saran, Surya, Vaikunth, Madhvan and I stood in the water. Saran and I both had our phones out, which we set to a stop watch so we could keep track. My brother was the first one to get out(my cousins were keen on who kept still and who didn’t, uh they took it way to seriously geez)It honestly wasn’t really a big deal, until our parents started freaking out that we were in the water for too long. But the younger group of us were being stubborn and refusing to come out. I went back out into the with steady reluctance. It took me a while to get my feet to function properly again, and I’m pretty sure that my cousin’s feet had turned purple. Finally most of us got out, except Saran and Vaikunth, who, for the sake of having a “winner” I guess.
I’m not a very sporty person, but the last time I checked,
I clearly remember knowing that not a lot of sports will have you sick in bed with pneumonia but your dignity still intact.
Everyone started getting frantic and Himani most of all, chiding her brother for not getting out quickly enough. Babu peryiappa watched on with a smile on his face, all of the women were fussing at the two boys who were still in the water(who looked strangely calm, like dang guys, are you warm blooded or not)I was also getting kind of concerned, because Surya had turned out of the water only a few moments before and his feet were an sickly purple colour. Himani pointed it out and looked like she was close to screaming at her brother, and I’m really surprised she didn’t.
Finally, with clear hesitancy and detestation, the two boys reluctantly removed themselves from there’s wet and sandy prison, while going to their respective mothers and burying their feet in the sand like everyone else who got our of the water. And just as we were dusting of our pants and getting ready to leave, my dad had an idea(which thankfully didn’t involve money), which consisted of all of us squinting our eyes harshly against the bright sunlight, and us ladies trying to keep our hair in one place as my dad attempted to snap photos of our group. My cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling for so long. And it was probably gonna take me an hour to two just to get the tangles out of my hair, thanks to the ruthless wind.
I mean I respect nature and everything, like I won’t abuse anything I see in my path just as long as loving mother nature doesn’t make like a waterfall and drench me with her ever so powerful, well, everything. And I love rain and cold weather. But the sun was directly in our eyes, the wind was coming at us like a tsunami built up nitrogen and oxygen. Sorry Gaea but, I’d prefer if I had my line of vision and my hair intact, thank you very much. My dad took quite a few pictures, and one selfie, which weren’t really that bad considering that weather was clearly against us.
But, a few days after we came back from Lake Tahoe, I was looking at one of the pictures, but as I was observing one of them from the series of photos, I zoomed in on my face and Himani’s. And you could barely even see our faces, but instead my hair and hers blowing wickedly in front of our eyes and mouths, which made us look more like the Lestrange Sisters come to life rather than perfectly normal people just posing for a picture(I haven’t dared to text her that picture yet, and I don’t think I ever will).
When we went to exit and drive back, we hung around as we waited for some of our party to finish up in the restroom. I turned around and both Surya and Sanjay came to join us. Surya had launched into a story, while Sanjay look positively embarrassed, we were all quite curious as to why my college student cousin, would be so flustered in a matter of a couple minutes.
According to my cousin, Sanjay had opened the door to one of the lavatory stalls, obviously expecting to be empty; but instead found some dude in there trying to do his business. And it must’ve been really awkward, I mean it’s not like you can make small talk with some random stranger that forgot to lock the door to a bathroom stall. You can’t just start a conversation right of the bat like,
“Yo, wassup bro, this beach is sick right?”
And I understand that in some cases, people might actually do that. But I can think of much better ways to socialize, rather than in a public restroom.
Anyway, Sanjay said that it was kind of awkward and that he apologized, and the guy inside was chill and said it was okay. See, that’s one example of how males and females can be slightly different. If two women were in the situation, there’s a likely chance that one of three things will happen:
A) Both women courteously apologize before trying to forget the situation even happened.
B) One, or both of them start screaming bloody murder.
C) The lady inside starts cursing out the other lady.
Trust me, with the ladies, there aren’t gonna be any “Heys,” or “What’s up bros.”
When Surya and Sanjay finished telling there priceless story, it took a while for us to calm down, everyone was laughing and my cheeks hurt from all of it. Sanjay seemed to be a little red in the face and Surya was smirking. The three brosketeers let our roars of laughter that filled the little gazebo like deck.
But if I’m to be completely honest, looking at everyone just smiling and laughing in a circle, was just a really surreal moment for me to see unfold. You see, us three families don’t get to see each other quite as often as one would want. It’s out of our control, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t enjoy the precious moments we have together, before we go one about our usual lives; with work and school, homework and classes, practices and grocery shopping, and whatever else that usually consumes our time. Nonetheless, just standing around laughing together can make up for all the time that wasn’t there.
As we headed out, Sekar peryiappa said there was another beach that was nearby, that he would take us all to. I forgot the name of the beach that he took us to, but it also was really nice, though we did have to make sure no one decided to take one of the motorboats and go one a lil’ adventure by themselves. There was one bench, and a couple of those plastic beach chairs that you would see in Stock photos(that is literally how I associated common yet subtle things, with Stock photos)My dad said that had a headache, so he went farther back, near this bar style restaurant and sat himself down in a seating area with umbrellas attached to the themselves.
Himani and I kept conversation with Babu peryiappa, who seemed quite interested in what Himani has been wanting to pursue as her career in the future. I’ve known for a while that she’s been wanting to be a doctor for a while. She told me that it interested her because so many other people in our family have or had a variety of diseases. And it made her curious and want to learn more about these inflammations.
The conversation went on until we were talking about how we thought of ourselves philosophically. Himani and I both agreed that we will always be dreamers.
Babu peryiappa said that he’s lazy.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
After watching the sun set for a bit, we started driving back to the house we were staying. And apparently, just out of the blue, someone decided that we should get pizza for dinner. Himani and I were riding with Babu peryiappa, Surya and Saran, and my dad. So we took a little detour and went through a different route, probably to see if there were any pizza parlors or anything like that nearby. However, as we drove, I couldn’t help but feel like we were driving through an actual town or city. There were fancy looking hotels and restaurants, shops and stores selling skiing gear, clothing stores, and a ton of other stuff. I spent the rest of the ride just looking out the window, until the little shops and buildings were obscured by the trees.
We all made it back to the house without fuss, Sekar peryiappa and Surya announcing they would grab the pizza later for dinner. They headed out and I decided to read for a little bit in the extremely squishy couch-that I almost suffocated in-and reading Sherlock Holmes. It was a little bit cold inside too so I grabbed one of the blankets on the sofa and wrapped myself up like a roll of colored pencils and just walked around the house, popping up behind random people. I also nearly manage to make one or two people pass out by accident, butletsnottalkaboutthat. But hey, everyone wants to be a magicarp once an a while.
Surya and Sekar peryiappa came back with the pizza and we all ate. Before going to our respective sleeping areas and sleeping.
(Sorry I kept this post really short because I want to stretch the time we arrived and the time we left Lake Tahoe as much as possible. So the content may be short but the amount of posts will keep adding on.)