Recalling Good Times

We finally made it—the end of January! In less than an hour, we’ll move right into the second month of our new year. When you think about it, it really did go fast despite all the cold and snowy weather. Isn’t it odd that, no matter how bad things get, looking back, we almost always say, “That sure went by fast?"  It’s the nature of time... and human beings. Things always seem terrible while we’re going through them, but when we look back, somehow, they don’t seem so bad.  Mercifully, we tend to forget dreadful experiences and only hold onto the good ones.

Just this afternoon, I was recalling a good experience. I feel a little silly admitting it, but I’m already thinking about summer vacation. I know it’s much too soon, but for some reason, the thought of moving into a new month brought the memories of our last vacation to mind. As I pondered what a wonderful time we had, almost every detail came back. Reliving it was so much fun that I just let it flow and enjoyed the moment.

Our daughter, who lives in North Carolina, had rented a condo on the beach at Ocean Isle for her family. When she so generously invited her dad and me and her sister and her two children to join them there, we all jumped at the chance and a few weeks later, we jumped in the car and headed south.

After driving all day, it was well after dark and raining when we arrived. The daughter who rented the condo was already there with her family. Everyone pitched in to get our luggage inside and then we assigned rooms, got settled in and started enjoying ourselves with snacks and chit-chat. But the real fun started the next morning.

Ocean Isle is in NC, but right on the border of SC. The first day, the temperature was 84° with the heat index much higher – at 92.  I’m not sure what that means; I just know it was very hot!

The younger ones were up early and off to the beach with their coolers full of drinks and snacks, while my husband and I slept later, had a leisurely breakfast and then got ready and headed for the beach, too. We didn’t stay long. Neither of us are sun worshippers, though we love the beach for other reasons – the food being one of them.

What makes us get hungrier at the beach? We had breakfast and lunch at the condo each day along with non-stop snacking, but we tried a different restaurant every evening. After stuffing ourselves with shrimp or other mouth-watering delicacies on the menu, we’d stop at the Homemade Ice Cream Shoppe and add insult to injury! I knew right away that I’d be dieting and working out very hard when I got home, but right at that time, it was worth it!  The food was delicious!

Upon returning to the condo, an evening walk on the beach was in order for some of us. It’s one of my favorite reasons for going to the seashore. To go there and not take a walk in the surf after dark would be a trip in vain as far as I’m concerned.

Walking beside that overwhelming body of water with a huge full moon hanging so low in the sky that you feel like you could reach right out and touch it, and seeing its light glisten from the whitecaps as they roll in, kiss the shore and hurry back out again, renders me speechless. It makes me feel so small and reinforces my belief that there is a God who truly is in control of everything... especially our lives. We are puppets with Him pulling the strings to effect our every move. As my bare feet sink into the cool wet sand and the warm ocean breeze caresses my body, I am lost in another world and not eager to return to reality.

But that is exactly what I need to do, isn’t it?  It’ll be quite a few months before I can think seriously about a vacation. We’re about to enter only the second month of the year. But I'm sure we all agree that, the way time flies, summer will be here before we know it. My daughter is so efficient, I’ll bet she has already made reservations!