Beach Weekend
It was nearing the end of another semester at work, and things couldn’t have been busier. It was somewhere between the growing pile of schedule change requests, massive heap of college paperwork and my scary email in box that it caught my eye.
The only framed picture that I keep on my desk. Of all of the snapshots that we have gathered over the years, it is my favorite one. Geoff and Bella smiling contentedly at me from behind the glass frame. A sunny day on the coast, Geoff is wearing sunglasses. Carefully perched next to my phone, by now I must have glanced at this picture nearly thousands of times. It was morning and I had just finished signing and sealing an official high school transcript for another college-bound student, working steadfastly to get through my list of to dos when it caught my eye. The picture was nearly buried in the midst of my organized chaos that I like to maintain. Just the corner of the photo could be seen, the rest had been claimed by my paperwork. Bella’s pointy black ear against beach sand.
Right then and there it hit me. A spontaneous weekend getaway to the coast was in order. Clearing away the debris from around the photograph, I made my resolve. Of course! What a brilliant idea. It really had been quite awhile since we had made a trip out to the ocean, and besides, I had a severe case of the mid-year blues. I needed re-energized. I wanted to explore new hiking trails with Geoff and Bella and then sip coffee from a cozy hotel room while it pelted rained outside. An overnight stay at a coastal hotel would clearly do the trick. After some consultation over lunch with a trusted friend who has always had excellent recommendations, I had devised a plan and by that evening I was notifying the rest of the family of our retreat. All parties were a go.
Spontaneity is hard to achieve when it comes to hotel reservations and weekend obligations such as chaperoning school dances. So, I spontaneously marked my calendar for two weekends away and began counting down the days.
Beach weekend getaway turned out to be a huge hit. I was pleased as I watched the originally skeptical Geoff begin to unwind and enjoy himself thoroughly. Turns out he may have needed the reprieve as well. We explored. We laughed. We engaged in real estate fantasies. We ate PBJ sandwiches brought from home and ice cream cones from the local shops. We sat side by side watching the crashing waves. Sometimes in silence. Sometimes while talking idly to one another. It’s comfortable like that. When it finally came time for the sunset, the show was spectacular. Truly a stunning, living, breathing work of art as Geoff and I watched on from a radiant rock on what felt like the edge of the world.
Because Windows Live Movie Maker is awesome.
