[sionnsar]

I recall searching the “sands” on my belly in January

Kind of a chilly time for that, in NorCal. Even in SoCal (Santa Barbara) I didn't become a beach-bum-student until around April or so -- towards the end of my senior year when I could coast because by design I'd already completed all the "heavy" classes and had only fluff to deal with.

("Fluff", ya sure. "Public Speaking" was one of those -- I hated it, I feared it, but now it's a significant part of my job.)

[Monkey Face]

The beaches were gravel. They were very pretty, in a stark kind of way.
Given time, when the tide was out, it wasn’t too bad to inch my way along the coast.

Matter of fact, I wouldn’t mind doing it again. If I could get back up...

[fanfan]

("Fluff", ya sure. "Public Speaking" was one of those -- I hated it, I feared it, but now it's a significant part of my job.)

You developed the skills you needed to cope with it. To succeed, one must learn how to do the things that don't come naturally. I'm still working on it. ;-)