Where doing nothing is a productive way to spend a day

Sir John Lubbock said "Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes in the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky is hardly a waste of time." Words to live by! Though I have tried to use my time this summer to take advantage of all there is do in Buffalo, I have definitely spent some wonderful hours doing absolutely nothing at all.

There are plenty of places to sit and do nothing while enjoying the summer weather in and around Buffalo. My spot of choice is Crystal Beach, Canada. Some call it Bay Beach, or Point Abino, but it's still the bay and beach area surrounding what used to be the Crystal Beach amusement park. Now, it's a beach town where people go to relax and enjoy the summer weather. It's a favorite getaway not only for Buffalonians, but also people from the Greater Toronto Area as well as all over North America.

I have been lucky enough to spend most of my summers at the beach. When I was very young, my parents would rent a cottage just for a week. One week turned into two weeks, which became a month, and eventually they bought a cottage and we stayed for the entire summer. Friends back home in the city would ask what I did all summer. I honestly don't know what my friends and I did for all those hours. I'm sure it was a whole lot of nothing, but I don't remember ever being bored. It was on that beach where I learned to enjoy the simple things like a perfect seashell, or a shooting star. I know how to take a time out from reality and city life to enjoy life for a moment.

Our cottage isn't waterfront (what do you think I am, rich?!) so we had private beach access as members of the Bay Beach Club. We are still members and still spend summer days on the beach there with some of our closest friends. It's a lifestyle none of us have been able to outgrow. There is also the public beach, where day visitors can go to escape the heat. The Friends of Crystal Beach are a group of townspeople, summer residents and other supporters who are currently fighting a developer's plans to build 12-story condo on the public beach. The bay is also home to the beautiful historic Point Abino Lighthouse, as well as the Buffalo Canoe Club, Buffalo Yacht Club, and other boating clubs, and beach access locations.

Whether it's relaxing on the beach all day walking with friends and going for boat rides, or enjoying the company of friends and family on the deck, I have a place where I can go and feel like time doing nothing is time well spent.
For those of you who don't yet have a favorite place to sit and do nothing, I'll gladly share mine with you.