Marcy Weiss throws a stick for her dog Maho, a mixed-breed dog she refers to as her ‘South African Pygmy retriever.’
Photos by Libby Volgyes/The Coastal Star
John Tomaszewski walks six beach miles every morning
year-round. He poses for a quick portrait at the end of his walk.
Eric Espanet holds his 6-year-old Chihuahua Billie at the beach.
Jason Clark, with his hood up to stay warm, hangs out on the beach across from where he works
at The Little Club golf course. ‘It’s a nice chance to get away from everything else.
Not too many people are out here,’ he said.
Scott Petrie takes a picture every morning of the sunrise to put on Facebook. ‘It’s my morning meditation,’ he says.
See stunning photos taken by dawn beachgoers Jason Clark and Scott Petrie.
By Anne Rodgers
Coastal dwellers count numerous blessings, but surely foremost among them is the chance to make frequent pilgrimages to the ocean. Though March brought some downright chilly mornings to the area, locals weren’t about to abandon their time-honored practice of visiting the shore.
On one of those raw, blustery mornings, we made our own trek to the beach to learn what we could about our neighbors who make viewing the ocean a daily ritual. What brings them again and again to the sound of the waves, the feel of sand beneath their feet?
Marcy Weiss is throwing a stick that’s almost twice as long as Maho, a mixed-breed dog Weiss refers to as “a South African pygmy retriever.” She plays contentedly with her small companion, talking about how she moved from New Jersey 12 years ago and is happy now in Boynton Beach.
Everyone comes early to the beach for the same reason, she says: “To watch the sunrise. It’s beautiful, and it’s peaceful.”
John Tomaszewski walks six beach miles every morning, year-round. For the three decades he was a firefighter in Delray Beach, he could only indulge his routine on weekends. But when he retired a couple years back, he started coming daily.
“This is my job now,” he says with satisfaction.
Tomaszewski shows up early because in summer, it’s the only non-hot part of the day. “It’s cooler than usual today,” he concedes, though he’s still barefoot and wearing shorts.
He walks with purpose, not stopping to collect shells.
“I’m not allowed to bring home any more shells,” he says laughing. “I’ve got jars full. If I see some really great ones, I’ll pick them up and give them to kids.”
Originally from Albany, N.Y., Tomaszewski moved to Boynton Beach 31 years ago. He talks about the variety of odds and ends he’s picked up on his walks — fishing poles, knives, a gold ring, a spear — but his voice grows warmer as he talks about the enjoyment of seeing the same people day after day. The regulars really do know one another.
Jason Clark walks directly to the water’s edge and begins snapping photos as soon as his feet touch sand. The former Marine Corps lance corporal now works just across the street from the beach, at The Little Club golf course. He’s made beach time his daily custom for four years.
“It’s a nice chance to get away from everything else. Not too many people are out here,” he says of the shore near Gulf Stream Park.
Clark, 24, isn’t a surfer, but he points knowledgeably to the water, noting this stretch of the beach is known for rip currents.
“A lot of days I come over on my afternoon break from 2 to 5,” he says.
Clark alternates his routine with visits to the Lake Worth pier as well.
“I like to get pictures of the sunrise to post on Instagram. I did the same thing when I was in the Marines in North Carolina.”
Eric Espanet brings Billie, his 6-year-old Chihuahua, down to the water each morning. He’s been making the trek, one way or another, ever since his family moved to Boynton Beach from Rhode Island when he was a kid.
These days, he lives close enough to walk down to the shore, “just to check the waves and walk my dog.”
An enthusiastic surfer, the 46-year-old Espanet works in Ocean Ridge as a building contractor with his brother. He and Billie both love the ocean, and he shares the story of how Billie earned her nickname “sushi dog.” It stems from the successful fishing she once did on a day when hundreds of baitfish were being driven toward the shore, repeatedly jumping out of the water.
“She was getting little salty snacks,” says Espanet chuckling. “So I call her sushi dog.”
And here is Scott Petrie, standing alone, totally absorbed in taking pictures of the sunrise. “I do this every morning to put on Facebook,” shares the county pocket resident. “I probably have more than a thousand pictures of sunrises.”
A neighborhood denizen for four years (moving here from Lake Worth), Petrie runs a home restoration business.
And why, pray tell, does he honor this ritual so faithfully, to the tune of a thousand photos?
"It’s my morning meditation,” he says simply. Ú
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