Babbling from a Beach Chair

We spent a week at Surfside Beach, SC for the second annual family beach week. Seven adults, one fantastic and precocious soon-to-be five year old and seven days of perfect weather. From my beach chair perched beneath a shady umbrella the following occurred to me in no particular order:

1. You really can go to the beach for a week and not get sunburn. It just requires a lot of sunblock and large hats.

2. If you can't actually disconnect from the office fully, the tension never really leaves your back.

3. I am way too attached to my iPhone for far too many tasks, tidbits and mindless moments.

 4. Devouring books, printed on actual paper, is still one of my absolute favorite things to do. The Lemon Tree and Japanland, both excellent reads.

5. No matter how long you stare at the ocean it won't give you the answer to the questions you're asking, unless you're really ready for the answers.*

6. Being an outsider to the tribe known as mothers becomes a very different experience every year further you go in life.
 
7. Lifeguards don't really guard beach goers, but they do handle beach rentals, check their phones/laptops and work on their tans, a lot.

8. Cheap airline flights are not always worth the cost savings.

*It does however prepare you to hear exactly what you were looking for while sitting in a pew on Sunday morning after you return. 

The Sound of Silence

Taking a moment to quiet the voices in and outside my head by replacing them with the sound of the ocean.

With any luck, I'll have solved the world's problems by week's end.

In case that doesn't happen, I'm working on my tan and sand castle building skills. It seems like the sensible thing to do.

Now It's Home

We were having such a good time we didn't take any pictures.

I always smile when I read or hear friends remark this about their trips with their families. Everyone was just so into whatever was actually happening whether it was a simple pleasure or complicated endeavor, no one had a chance to step back and capture it for posterity.

Don't get me wrong. I love photos, seeing and taking them. But there's just something very wonderful about being so swept up (or tied up) in an experience you never grab your camera (phone).

So this past weekend when dear friends, old and new, came by amid 100+ degree temps (and post summer mega storm) to break in our new place there was no time to take a photo.

Now several folks were without power (and remain without, sorry guys) so they may have lingered a little longer to enjoy the A/C and avoid the hot boxes that their own houses had become (we'll pretend it's because you were having such a good time).

But, for a few hours of a single afternoon, it was really lovely to have our friends and their adorable (and incredibly well behaved) children fill every inch of first floor with laughter and conversation.

When you settle in a city far from home, your friends become your family. And for well past a decade now, we've been lucky enough to have some of the best friends one could conjure up to have as a part of their lives.

So thanks for helping us officially call DC home for keeps and may it not be as long until we all share an afternoon together again.