friday night lights for the soul

Like the moon pulls the tides, so the shore called my name.
Come to the beach. Feel the sand between your toes. Breathe...

It took nothing to convince me... and I was out of the driveway and on my way only minutes after my boys took off camping. My mind was scrambling desperate... first week back to work after Christmas and vacation... and a full five days of crazy work, on top of everyday life. I tamed my breath and whispered that I was almost there... and typed out an SOS to my sister, in case she could somehow escape her own routine...

Surf and sand and salty air were waiting... and with just one breath, my soul settled. I think it is a whole package deal for me... and the wide open world I find at lot #3 has only one to-do on its list. Enjoy. And it is impossible not to...laughing at the scurrying sandpipers and training my eyes on the pelicans that dive in beak first, or fly in follow-the-leader-line.

The gulf was cold... sending an alive kind of chill through me... and when I turned back to my chair, there she was. Sister, in bright turquoise. Shirt and toes. I think she needed it as much as I did.  We walked and laughed and chatted with a couple who assumed we were on vacaction, which only made us laugh a little more.  And as we walked on, we gently scooped up fragile angel wings, scattered in the sand.

The sunset was, perhaps, one of His finest works of gold and fire... and we were only blessed watching this majestic gift unfold. 

When we finally walked away, after several one-more-over-the-shoulder-glance, we hugged, smiled, and sped on our way... each of us feeling a little more alive, a little more ourselves, hemlines splashed with salty surf and sand clinging to our feet.