Beside the Foamy Sea

[COTTAGE]       Our summer cottage stands on legs
beside the foamy sea;
I wish we lived there all year long,
my mom and dad and me.

[CHAMELEON] A lizard lives beneath our steps, a funny little fellow.
Sometimes he's blue, sometimes he's green, sometimes he's sandy yellow.
I used to be afraid of him (when I was only three),
But now I know he tries to hide because he's scared of ME.

[Flying Pelican]
 

Brown pelicans fly overhead like airplanes in formation.
I think the sea's the finest place for spending a vacation.

 

[SHELLS] Gramps and Grandma meet us there;
my Grandma loves the sea,
But Grandpa says he only comes
so he can be with me.
Every day it doesn't rain we go down to the ocean.
Mom makes sure I'm covered up with lots of sunscreen lotion.

 
Grandma and I dance in the waves
and Mom and I find shells
Shaped like fans and boats and stars
and tiny little bells.

Dad helps me build things in the sand
when we go down to play.
Forts and castles, mountains high.
(The waves wash them away.)

 [SAND PAIL]

 
 

We take a big umbrella, too, and chairs made out of plastic
Where Grandpa sits and watches me. He says I'm just fantastic!

I like to raft the foamy waves and race them to the shore
And sing songs no one else can hear above the ocean's roar.

[DOLPHINS]

Sandpipers run along the beach and laughing sea gulls shriek
While out there in the foamy waves dolphins play hide and seek.
 

Sometimes we walk along the sand and watch the sun go down
And count a thousand little stars we never see in town.

And when the moon is big and bright (Gramps says it makes the tide)
Funny little ghost crabs run, not straight but side to side
 [LOVERS ON THE SHORE]
A life guard or a mermaid
is what I want to be
So I can live my whole life long
beside the foamy sea.

Kay Koehler

Dedicated to all ocean-loving kids, but especially to Katie, Joseph, David and Oscar

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Pelican animation assembled by Alchemy Mindworks, Inc., Beeton, Ontario
adapted by Kay Koehler
Seagull animation was adapted from one by Howard Burgess.

This page was updated on February 28, 2009

©2009 Kay Koehler

Except as noted, all animations, art and text are the work of Kay Koehler ©2003.
PLEASE request permission before copying ANY of these images for use other than as wallpaper on a personal computer.
Email: permission@kayko.net