Growing up, my siblings and I would spend the winter time months at our aunts beach house.
My mother, being a university teacher, would take us to her sisters beach home a few hours away for a month each winter time break.
We always looked forward to this trip with our Dad because she grew up on the ocean. Where we lived, there was no beach, however she and my uncle taught us to love the ocean. We would surf, swim and sit out in the sun reading books all day. My favorite part of going to the beach home in the winter time was the wood burning fireplace that was used to heat the house, the home we lived in did not have a fireplace. I always found the glow of the fire to be soothing and calming, especially in combination with the waves crashing on the nearby coast. Occasionally, it would get so cold in the study rooms that we would bundle up next to the fireplace and stay there all night. One night it was so cold that me, my sister and my Dad all slept in the living room near the wood burning fireplace. My uncle had another fireplace in her study room, so she was fine, but, there was no other heating in the rest of the house. I always enjoyed spending the winter time breaks with my uncle at her beach home and I think that is something that I will take with me for the rest of my life. Without those experiences, I might have never come to love the ocean as much as I do.