As I said goodnight to one of our elders last Sunday night, she asked me "How long will you be gone?" "Just a week," I said, more to assure her I'd be home soon than to comment on the length of time I'd get to play. "Oh, that's not enough," she replied. I smiled, "It will have to do."
Vacations are like that, aren't they? You either have the kind where the days fly by and it's time to leave before you know it, or the kind where you're slipping things into your suitcase two or three days before it's time to go.
I used to be a four-day-girl. That was the exact amount of time I could spend before I started getting antsy to get back home, back to work, back to my own bed. Not this trip. My work at home can be done by others. (Not that any of them wants to keep doing my share.) My bed here is way more comfortable than my own, and it feels like I've just not had enough beach time to rest my weary soul. I haven't. It's rained a bit... cold rain. We went to the movies on one of those days, (Mama Mia!) and drove around shopping on another. On another I just cuddled up with my books and the remote control. TV is such a novelty, even if there's nothing I want to watch.
Yesterday was sunny. Wahoo! So off we went around noon... loaded down with umbrellas, beach chairs, our books, a cooler, towels.
I remember my first husband lamenting his days when he could go to the beach with just a towel. At that time we were also lugging all the kiddie paraphernalia: pails and shovels, rafts, blanket, towels, the cooler. Going to the beach was an expedition, and the combination of sand and salt water usually left everyone a bit cranky.
My second husband disliked the beach. He was fair-skinned and burned easily, so it was always time to leave just as everyone else was getting comfortable. He'd tap his watch impatiently to wrangle the kids out of the water, and we'd begin packing up. The "beach" also meant sand in the car, and he carried big gallon jugs of water to wash everyone's feet right before boarding. "Stay on the towel!" he'd shout to the sandy offenders in the back seat. Everyone was a bit cranky.
Yesterday my friend and I spent most of the afternoon under our umbrellas, reading. We walked the shore a bit (lots of seaweed, no shells) and took turns lying in the sun on the blanket. When it was time to come home, nobody was cranky.
I'm not sure what we'll do today, but it looks like it might be sunny again... :)
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