It was a hot day in Melbourne today. Temperatures climbed into the high 30’s, serious summer weather… or so I thought. However, as the sun heated the masses gathered on Brighton Beach, the sky over Port Phillip Bay darkened with the kind of clouds that make for dramatic pictures, but lousy beach basking.

It wasn’t long until the first few drops began to land. Within minutes, the sunny crowded beach was almost entirely cleared of people. It was just after three o’clock so the grumbles of the children passing me, on their way back to parked cars with their parents, weren’t as loud as you might think.

However, there was one big kid who was a little grumpy. He sat there motionless, his head under a towel as he cursed the clouds and the often unpredictable Melbourne weather. You see today was his birthday, and summer birthdays should be sunny all day he thought. Of course, that big kid was me.

The sun clearly wasn’t coming back. An ominous blanket of dark clouds was spreading across the entire sky quickly filling any holes that appeared in its thick weave. But as I sat there I watched a couple just out in the shallow water, still playing tennis and splashing one another. They weren’t the slightest bit concerned that the sun had gone and the wind was picking up. I watched them for a while assuming that they would come out of the water at any moment, but they didn’t.

I gathered up my stuff and left the beach, but before the water was out of sight I took one last look back. They were still in the water, still playing. The fun they were having wasn’t about to end any time soon.