The big weekend with all of my sisters and my cousins and my aunts is over. We had a marvelous time and the weather mostly cooperated. Here is a smattering of the activities people indulged in over the course of the weekend: swimming; playing on and around the Aquillo (sailboat); water tag; water wresting; playing fox and geese, Frisbee, and paddle ball on the sand bar at low tide; walking the beach; sailing; building sand castles; building dams; mucking the little creek; kayaking; rowing; crabbing; walking on the breakwater to the outer light; running over the causeway between the Flounder and the Maggie P.; golfing; catching and skinning eel; eating ice cream and cookies and cake and crab and eel and Chinese and pizza and chips and soda and cold cuts and pumpkin bread and Omaha Steaks and laeckerli and oreos and dark chocolate M&M’s and and and; playing games (Quiddler, Blokus, Mille Bornes, Perspective, quadruple solitaire, Set, My Word, Apples to Apples, In a Pickle, Texas Hold ‘em, Rummikub, Settlers of Catan, Ringgz, but sadly not krypto or Boggle); lounging on the deck of the Maggie P. and under the cabana, reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; sleeping; playing with nephews/grand kids; playing with dry ice in the creek; and more I’m sure I’m missing. Here are some of the highlights in pictures.
There’s not too much to report here other than the usual great food, fun in the sun and all the normal Maggie P. activities. I helped to muck the creek, which was tiring but interesting for the first time work. After swimming and rinsing off I still had a muck tan stain on my legs. I wish I had Clark’s Tin Whistle book and I could look up the tune Muckin’ O’Grady’s Barn, which I remember from when I first started tin whistle oh so long ago.
(More)We arrived and tumbled out of the car breathing in the wonderful smells and spontaneous erupting into yelps of joy. It is so wonderful to be here again. Enjoying the intense emotion and happiness I was experiencing I began to wonder how much of it is because this is a little heaven on earth and how much of it is because it is the little heaven on earth I grew up in. I cannot judge objectively and don’t know of a stranger would find the place so lovely. In any case, it’s glorious to me – especially with family waiting for us!
(More)Wednesday (July 18th) morning Mom and I left at a decent hour in the morning and started the four day trip up to the Maggie P. It shouldn’t take that long, but these things happen. I’m currently in the car an hour away from the Maggie P., but of course we’re stuck in stop and go ½ mile per hour traffic. This way I have the time to write about the trip, I suppose, but I’d rather be at the beach.
(More)When my family moved to Florida we spent a few years visiting the sights and exploring what the sunshine state as to offer. Unfortunately, I was not yet two years old so I don’t remember any of it. My dear dad decided that this summer would be a good time to remedy that, so last weekend Mom, Dad and I drove to St. Augustine, the oldest continually settled city in America. It was fun being a tourist in my own country, and even better to have the whole trip planned by someone else. Dad did a great job so the days were full and enjoyable. (More)
C.S . Lewis on Friendship in his book The Four Loves:
"Friendship arises out of mere Companionship when two or more of the
companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even
taste which the others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed
to be his own unique treasure (or burden). The typical expression of
opening Friendship would be something like, "What? You too? I
thought I was the only one." It is when two such persons discover
one another, when, whether with immense difficulties and semi-articulate
fumblings or with what would seem to us amazing and elliptical speed, they
share their vision - it is then that Friendship is born. In this kind of love,
as Emerson said, Do you love me? means Do you see the same truth?
- Or at least, "Do you care about the same truth?" The man who
agrees with us that some question, little regarded by others, is of great
importance can be our Friend. He need not agree with us about the
answer."
(More)
It's hot in Florida. Really hot. As a wise Floridian who grew up in the hot sun (and never understood the expression "fun in the sun") I have a word of advice to my dear readers.
If, when you climb onto the roof to clean the gutters in the morning you happen to burn your fingers on the shingles, do not attempt a 3.5 mile barefoot run in the afternoon on an asphalt trail.
A Florida native would never do this. Unfortunately, I was born in Rochester, New York. My calluses are strong enough I didn't know it was so hot until I was mostly to the park. Thank goodness there was grass most of the way back, but even grass gets hot in Florida sun. Today I ran in sneakers. It felt weird. The funny thing is, it was harder. Yesterday I ran faster than ever and didn't feel it in my legs or lungs because all I was thinking was "home, home, home."
Am I giving up barefoot running? Not a chance. Running with shoes just isn't the same.
Of course it’s not, but the bride didn’t want me posting pictures of her on my blog, so I can’t show you are gorgeous she was and how perfectly she and the groom were made for each other. She is one blessed gal to have a husband whose only fault I could see in the intense week leading up to the wedding is a tendency to be too helpful at times. I’d ask a question in order to complete a task I was doing to be helpful and before I knew it and despite my protests he would be up and doing whatever it was I was trying to do, thus defeating the purpose of trying to get menial work done while he worked on more important stuff, like wedding plans.
