Just…the Beach

Last week, I got to spend some quality time with my oldest daughter, a recent college graduate, when we fled the cold of Ohio for a few days and went to Southwest Florida.

Sunny, warm day, Beach, Southwest Florida. No snow in sight!!!

I must admit, I have this thing for the ocean. Ever since I first set eyes on it at age twelve, I’ve been in love. My daughter feels the same way.

And after the winter we’ve had, holy snowstorm, I felt like I died and went to heaven, standing there in the bright sunshine and not being cold. (See Julie Andrews shot below. Fortunately, I deleted the one of me kissing the ground.)

Here’s what we accomplished on our little trip together:

–We learned the most efficient way to lug large beach umbrellas and lounge chairs every day to a perfect spot on the beach–and back. And plant them in the sand. Without tools. It was worth it, because this enabled us to spend several great afternoons gazing out at the water between reading our books. (Although I was mostly under the umbrella and she was mostly not under it.)

Volcanic Eruption Hibiscus, a flashy chick indeed.

–We counted how many Kindles we saw on the beach every day, mourning that we couldn’t see what bestsellers everyone was reading like you can with a book that has a cover.

–We decided that of all the varieties of hibiscus planted where we were staying, we liked the wildly exotic Volcanic Eruption the best.

–We watched Maid of Honor, one of our favorite flicks. Especially the part where the Scottish guy’s grandmother suggests they name their first son the ancestral Scottish name Athol.

–My daughter took me to my first ever spinning class. For some weird reason, the body part that hurt the most afterward was the front of my ankles. (The rest of my body just went numb.)

The hills are not alive, but I am very grateful.

–We didn’t do much. Ate, biked, walked, sat on the beach, watched some movies. In between her work and mine. And searched for seashells like we did when she was four. And reminisced about past beach vacations when she and her siblings were much smaller. It was a rare, wonderful time with a child who has somehow grown into a adult, and a terrific one at that. With that said, the great weather was just a bonus.