I was walking with my three kids on the Pacific beach at Santa Cruz, California. It must have been about March, because the weather was blustery and chilly. My oldest son was maybe 7, my daughter about 4, and the youngest son about a year old and riding in a backpack. We saw lots of people wading across a river or creek that was flowing across the beach into the ocean - I'm think it must have been the San Lorenzo River near the Boardwalk. The water wasn't up to their knees, so it looked safe; and we went across.

We couldn't have been ten feet off the path the other people were taking, but the water got deep quick, and the current made me lose my footing - with a baby in a backpack and us all wearing winter clothing. I held onto both kids and somehow grabbed the last, barnacle-covered rock as we were being washed out to sea. I held on for dear life, but couldn't get out of the water. Some teenagers came and helped us out, and we were safe.

But it sure was scary.

-Joe-