High Saturation

In two months’ time, we have gone from home in North Carolina to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Kent/Northumberland, England, San Francisco/Berkeley, California and New Haven, Connecticut. All of it was wonderful, full of laughter and family and friends and way too much food. It has been a busy whirlwind of old times and new times, of special time with our grown up children and grandgirls, and visits with our mentors. There were obligations along the way, but wonderful activities that we just had to be part of.  The days began to feel as if they were spinning out of control.

So…what to do about it, with a week of summer vacation to go before teaching, for each of us? The beach, Sunset Beach, here in our home state of North Carolina beckoned to our long term memories, and amazingly, there was a house, a small bargain house, just waiting to be rented at the last minute.

The instant we got out of our car and smelled the salt air and felt the penetrating sun on our backs, we knew that we had done the right thing. The familiarity after ten years’ absence has been amazing. All of the trips over the years to exotic and foreign places have been remarkable, but we had forgotten about the value of being close to home.

Stairway to Heaven

Sunset Beach Pier at dawn

Pier with Egyptian design

Gone fishing

Sunrise at Sunset

Marsh grass in back of our house

Sun Worshipper

Of course, we miss our family of old when Sage and John came with us, and sometimes brought their buddies here. We have reminisced about the shared dinners and the used up hot water, but right now we’re reveling in working on course syllabi and catching up on books and emails and camera manuals without any responsibilities. Best of all, after a summer of new beds every few days, we’ve totally relearned how to relax.

We CAN go home, and we did. North Carolinians tend to explain away their summers by apologetically saying, “We’re just going to the beach this summer.”  JUST the beach?