About three weeks ago we had a pretty big storm here in Southern California. Granted, it’s nothing compared to the weather  that the rest of the country has experienced this winter. Whenever I see updates on Facebook from friends back home in NY I half expect to see a Tauntaun lumbering across the background (I salute the nerds who understood that reference). While we didn’t have to brave freezing temperatures or any snowfall, we were getting a large amount of rain which is big news for our drought prone state. Usually if someone turns their sprinkler on near a highway, it’ll cause a 4 day traffic jam, so we figured we would be spending the day indoors.

When the storm came my wife was working so it was just the kiddos and I for what was going to be a very boring and Netflixy day. But then I thought to myself “Why be cooped up? Why don’t we go out and enjoy this rare (for us)  phenomenon a little?”. So I packed up the kids, and went for a drive. I wanted them to learn that they should see the best in everything and that a gloomy day shouldn’t mean a gloomy outlook. We stopped by a swollen creek and threw rocks into it, watching it raise a foot in less than 30 minutes. My daughter asked where it was all going so we jumped back in the car and head to the outlet at Dana Point, near one of the beaches we frequent.IMG_3783

When we got there, it was hard to believe our eyes. The beach was a disaster of trash that had been washed out of the usually dry river beds that line the coastlines of CA. You know the ones. Think Grease Lightning race, or Terminator II motorcycle chase scene. So there we were, sitting in our minivan at the outlet, awed at what the water was pushing out to sea when my daughter made a suggestion that made me very proud. “Daddy, maybe we should try to clean it up”. Holy guacamole! What a great idea!

So, we were off to the nearest supermarket to buy some heavy duty trash bags and then back onto the beach. We were the only people even remotely close to the ocean. It was cold, wet and terrible, but the kids were having fun finding all of the “treasure” that has washed up. We found 13 soccer balls and about 10 bajillion tennis balls. Undoubtedly these were lost somewhere inland by an unfortunate throw or kick that ended up in a storm drain, this is why it’s appropriate to do some drain cleaning to remove any trash to avoid it from going into the ocean (If “Jennifer S.” is looking for her pink soccer ball, we have it). The whole time I was letting the kids know they were doing so much good for the ocean and reminding them of all of the sea creatures they are probably saving. Based on the amount of trash they removed from the shore line, I’d estimate their efforts saved roughly 0.00 “sea creatures”.

Eventually it got too cold and wet so we called it a day with 4 large bags full of trash. Looking back on the stretch of beach where we worked, you never would  have guessed we were there at all. But who cares?? The kids loved doing it and we kept some bottles and old shoes out of the ocean. Not only that, but they were able to really and truly step out of their literal comfort zones. We were wet, cold and tired, but we accomplished something that they were able to feel proud of. Plus, my kids now know that it’s not only ok to be muddy, uncomfortable and exhausted, but now they can say that some of the best memories can be made that way.