Birthday present

My fifty-first birthday has sped right up here and for this birthday I am getting something I have wanted for a while, which is a trip to the beach. Kerry is not really a beach person, so he is always resistant to my suggestions about going there. It does seem like there have always been other places we needed to go when we have been able to take time off, like to visit family or we just have not had enough time to get this far from home

  The last time we were at the ocean for a vacation was 6 years ago before the girls got married. We took our last family vacation then and made a spontaneous trip to Panama City Beach, Florida. That is where we are now, enjoying several days on a budget vacation but I am finally here, breathing in ocean air, feeling the breeze off the water, hearing the waves lap the shore. There is just nothing like it to me to restore the soul. I can find communion with nature anywhere. I love being in the woods, in the mountains, near a lake. God is there and so obvious to any observing eye, but, indeed, there is a special something extra for me about the sea and just BEING there. By that I mean "being". Perhaps the rhythms of the water and wind cause me to slow my mind down, let it empty of all those busy and often harmful thoughts, and actually "be" in the moment.

That is something that is hard for me to do, live in the moment.  I try to constantly remind myself to, but it is easy to start worrying about problems and solutions, the "what if's" and next thing you know another day has slipped by and then another.  Having a birthday past the half-century mark will definitely remind you that time is "slipping into the future". When a moment is as beautiful as this it is so much easier to savor, though, than those days spent working or doing mundane tasks.

I love a pretty sunset and those over water are so awesome.  Don't think you can ever tire of seeing beauty like this.

We enjoyed eating out the other evening at a restaurant recommended by my friend, Kelli. It was a very popular local establishment, J.Micheals, that was pretty busy for a Monday evening. Hard to see the detail of all the decorations in the pic above, but it was quite colorful and the food was delicious.

 

I was walking back to the room from the pool when I noticed the cool shadows of the railing. This might be a cool background for something.  I keep saying I want to get back into art more, but I've not been too successful.  There are some personal business issues that have been on my mind and I have got to get to where I can put these to the side instead of waiting for the perfect day. 

I did bring some fabric stuff and some journals with me.  So far have started a couple of pages in my "Blue Traveler" journal and worked on some needlepoint in the car on the way down.  I've read one book and started another. Lazy stuff and that is just what I wanted to be doing.