The fine line in the sand.

I always liked the expression "drawing a line in the sand".

It holds in it both the beauty of an adamant decision to not cross over some self-impossed limit in your efforts to compromise and change, yet, at the same time is one of the most unstable kind of lines you can draw. The winds of change will blow on it and it will be lost in the past. And then you are stranded on the beach, with sand getting blown by the wind into your eyes, nose, mouth and ears, and you are unsure again. Unsure of what you can give and where you need to stop, you cannot decide where you need to stand, and you are spitting mud due to all this sand. Recently I found the solution to this.

I fancy this solution to be both simple and elegant: just burn the line you drew, melt it down to glass, then you can always know where you are, and bloody motes of sand will not intrude into your bloody face.

That is why I shall henceforth be seen on beaches with a pointy stick to mark my lines, and a flamethrower to anchor them forever. Or at least until some kid comes and breaks the glass line. I should also take a baseball bat to hunt down kids that want to break the glass. I think all that will give me a cool appeal on the beaches this summer.