When I was about seven or eight, my dad took me to a water park for the first time. I wasn’t big on water slides, so I spent most of my time in the wading pools and tide pools. They had a wave machine they called “Breaker Beach.” It was on a gradient, so while the waves were turned off, I went up to the thick red line that none without inner tubes were allowed to cross. my goal was to stand atop of it to see how much taller I was in comparison. I could still touch the bottom and keep my head above water if I stood on my toes, but just barely.