Vacay Reflections

Linda and I arrived home yesterday, after being away for a tad more than a week. We ended our craft/vendor sale season with back-to-back shows in Oelwein and Peosta on Friday and Saturday the 6th and 7th; then drove to Davenport Saturday evening and boarded a flight early Sunday morning for Tampa Florida. We drove from Tampa to Anna Maria Island and the home in Holmes Beach that we would share with our daughter, Charissa and her husband Ryan and the three mini-muffins, Ryan’s sister Melissa and her husband Caleb and their three children and with Jody and Shirlee Peterson (Ryan and Melissa’s folks).

Since arriving home, I’ve engaged in short periods of time during which I have thoughtfully reflected on the experience … and there are some things that stick with me:

~ I am grateful to Sam Carter for her longstanding reliability in caring for our four-pawed, furry child, Noelle whenever we are out of town for an extended period of time.  Fifteen-year-old Noelle requires daily medication in her ear to control a thyroid issue. Noelle greeted us as we arrived home … meowing the praises of Sam for her loving care … but at the same time meowing her displeasure with us for being gone so long!

~ Walking a quarter mile across the long-term parking lot at the Moline airport at 10 pm, with the temperature at 18 degrees and a 20-25 mph wind was brutal. Linda and I both expressed the thought that perhaps we could just turn around and go back to Florida!

~ I was surprised at how happy I was to sit in our Kia Sorento again.  Our rental car was a Nissan Rogue and it was a basic model with limited seat adjustment options and not as much room.

~ I am eager to enjoy the therapy of sewing again soon … I missed the good feeling that comes with creating something useful.

~ I am just as disgusted about the steady flow of political anti-trump, pro-impeachment sewage that spews from the news media as I was before I left.

~ Staying for a week, in a vacation rental home with  8 adults and 6 small children who are family and extended family is an interesting experience.  I’ve done it twice.

~ It is my nature to be a quiet and reflective person most of the time. I take advantage of that to simply watch and listen as the people around me interact with one-another.  I find that doing so generally helps me learn more about those people; and of course my response to what I learn teaches me more about myself as well!  I am usually richer as a result and this time in Florida has certainly made richer!

~ Smelling the salt air, and hearing the regular throbbing of the surf reminded me of my days in the US Navy!

~ I liked being out on the beach before dawn:

    * It was quiet apart from the aforementioned surf and was conducive to spending time with God in reading and prayer.

    * Seeing the stars in the dark sky made me remember how small I am in the universal scope of things and how amazing it is that the God who created it could know and love me personally.

    * Mimicking bird noises and having large sea birds come in response and surround me made me laugh.

    * Walking along the water’s edge and watching the surf wash over my bare feet reminded me of the repeated cleansing that is mine as God “cleanses me from all unrighteousness” in response to my regular confession of sins.

~ Watching Margo … who behaves like a fish in the pool and joyfully frolics in the surf fills me with joy.

~ Making connections with the “cousins” through “weighty” discussions, questions and answers, and a thumb separation in the hot-tub was such a hoot!

~ I ate wild boar for the first time in my life … and liked it!

~ Sand dollars and other such creatures can be easily found in knee deep water that covers most of the bay….and sand dollars and starfish can be purchased in the souvenier shops for as much as 2 or 3 dollars!

~ Homeless people commandeer boats that are left behind when old folks without families pass on and leave their boat behind.  Sunken and capsized boats are left where they sink, unless they pose a navigational hazard, and become part of the “reef system”.

~ I like my bed

~ I’ll go back to Florida for a visit and I won’t wait very long.

~ I love my family … including the extended one!

~ There’s a lot more … but I’m getting tired of typing.