Bethany Beach, Delaware, July 21, 2016

★★★★ For the four-year-old’s satisfaction, the sunroof of the Cadillac could be opened on the ride back from the drugstore. Both children, after a bit of consideration and discussion, decided to be agreeable about going to the beach. The beach was agreeable in return: The temperature on the sands was just hot, no more; the near waves were yellowish, not big but sharp, breaking with a growl. Each child in turn consented or asked to be carried out to bob in the water, bearing up under the salty slap when a wave was too big for the adult child-holder to hoist their heads clear of. The younger one increased his own head’s odds of being wave-slapped by squirming and pushing down on the adult head in excitement whenever a big swell was drawing near. The air through the sides of the open-air beach trolley felt like a fresh breeze, gentle enough that the four-year-old, who’d insisted on a trolley ride, promptly fell asleep.