It’s hot. Muy caliente. Of course, maybe it just feels that way with a 50-degree shift – from minus 15 to plus 35. It’s mid-afternoon by the time we get to the beach in Playa Hermosa, and the clouds have started gathering, with the wind picking up in bursts. I sit on the black sand next to Nadine, wondering if the sun will peak out through the clouds again – I want to feel even warmer so that I get the courage to dare go into the water.

Maybe it’s because it is Sunday, maybe it’s because it’s off-season, maybe it’s just the magic of Playa Hermosa…. but the beach is not busy. It is much different than the vibe of Zihua during New Year’s; it still has a local feel, but it doesn’t have the din of tourists milling about trying to find an empty beach chair as they meander along. There are no beach chairs here…. just some fine black sand – much finer than what I expected. For some reason, I thought it would be much more coarse and heavy.

My back gets pelted by sand with the occasional wind gust, and I lie down. I close my eyes and try to focus… on being in the moment, on the here and now. I wait to hear the sounds of life drown out the commotion that has been racing through my mind the past few days.

My wife is sitting next to me watching the kids, as I time my breathing to match hers. I hear the waves as they roll onto the shore. I hear a bird cawing in the vicinity to my left. Then, I feel some precipitation land on my skin – not raindrops, too small to be even called droplets… almost like a fine spray just misting over part of my arm. I wonder if it is starting to rain, but I catch myself remembering my friend from so many years ago (in junior high) trying to explain to me that part of a Zen warrior‘s meditation wasn’t about interpreting what was going on around you, but to simply acknowledge their presence.

I am not sure why I still remember this, but I do. I get back to trying to achieve this state of calm, when I hear a happy shriek that can only be Isy, followed by the faint giggling from Ema. Ema? Wasn’t she just sitting here not far from us?

I sit up and scan the water even though my eyes are still adjusting to having been suddenly opened. I first see Aly and Ori playing together and having a good time, then I notice Ema and Isy playing behind them, still laughing.

Nadine wonders why I sat up and asks me if I was okay… I slowly answered with a simple “yeah”, but what was going through my head as that I was no Zen warrior. I am a husband and a father, and that is why the six of us were here. In Playa Hermosa. Starting this crazy journey.  Trying to be in the moment…