Vacations -- we all take them and love them, but oh, the misery of returning to work! Part of my vacation last week was spent at the beach with my daughter, Dori, her husband, John, and their two children, Luke and Cami. We went to Ocean Isle where we rented a condo for the week. As many of you know, buildings close to the ocean are built atop huge timbers to prevent them from flooding in case of storm surge during a hurricane, so even though we were on the second floor of the building, it was really the third floor, and we had to climb two sets of stairs, 16 steps in each set, every time we went up or down. I haven't a clue as to how many times in a day we climbed those 32 steps, but I do know that my legs felt it, yet the exercise felt good! Our bodies are made to move and work, and because I sit at a desk all day, moving and working is what I do when I get away from that desk.
The back of the condo unit was adjacent to a small man-made lagoon enclosed by brush almost around its entire circumference. From the vantage point of the elevated deck, we could see turtles -- very big ones -- covered with algae swimming just under the water's surface. Their heads appeared often, resembling tips of branches poking from the water. Some of the turtles were as large as dinner plates, and they got fed by people who were as intrigued by them as we were. At night, the lagoon became a chorus of frogs, thrumping and croaking out a deafening song which then slowly faded into silence, only to resume a few moments later into a cacaphonic symphony. Closed windows were a necessity for sleep!
We experienced thunderstorms, sunshine, heat and humidity during our time at the beach, and we thoroughly enjoyed the waves. Despite my advancing years, I still love to ride a boogey board on a good wave all the way to the beach, and when I catch a good one and end up stranded on the sand, I notice the strange looks of others at this white-haired lady doing such a thing! Is there a rule that I can't? Absolutely not! So I'll continue enjoying boogey-boarding until I no longer can! Cami and I spent many minutes riding the waves as they surged toward us, and when they broke before reaching her, Cami would dive under them. Even though she's only 8 years old, she's a very good swimmer and loves the ocean. Dori, Cami and I were at the beach for 3 hours on Monday (the males had gone fishing), and I do believe Cami was in the water all but 15 minutes of that time!
Sand, sun, surf -- all part of our wonderful world! Standing on the edge of the ocean as the waves washed over my feet and then retreated, leaving me sinking in their wake, I realized that there are mysteries to our earth and universe that will never be understood during my lifetime -- and maybe never understood. How does the ocean swell so beautifully and then rage into a relentless storm that destroys? How does life exist in the ocean's depths without sun or heat? How do creatures of the deep exist in such depths? How does magma burn inside the earth where there's neither fuel nor oxygen? And the sun -- how does it burn without the aid of oxygen in the vastness of space? So many things I ponder when I'm in the natural world -- a world without concrete, buildings, air-conditioning, walls, and ceilings. God lights up the sky at night, but how many of us actually go outside during the dark and gaze up at his marvelous heavens, which show his love for us? I think most people have lost touch with the earth that God created and, because of that, no longer see the need for taking care of and protecting our precious, fragile environment.
Next time you go outside, take off your shoes, walk in the grass, lie down on it, watch the clouds pass by, inspect a flower (if you have any in your yard), find an earth worm, watch the butterflies, breathe deeply of a rose's fragrance, and truly take in all the beauty which surrounds us daily. And after dark, step outside without the aid of a flashlight and gaze up at the heavens. I expect that you'll be in awe at what you see.
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