July Travels

I spoke to my mom yesterday. She's dealing with some minor medical issues, and to speed her recovery and keep them from becoming major medical issues she has adopted a personal mantra of keeping things stress-free. Thanks, Mom for the inspiration because at least for this weekend I am doing the same.

Scooter and I have escaped to the coast, back to my aunt and uncle's summer home in the coastal village I love so much. The uncomfortable heat at home means that for the first time ever (at least since I started bringing Scooter up here), the weather is warm enough to spend time enjoying the deck. Last night, after getting into town late, we sat out on the deck for quite awhile, enjoying the quiet and looking at the stars in a clear night sky that should have been shrouded in fog. We relaxed and talked and just were. A drastic change in my chaotic routine, and one I have desperately needed. Stress-free, just like the mantra says.

This morning, we cooked a simple breakfast and ate while sitting in the deck chairs with a chorus of morning bird calls and the harbor's foghorn. I hear the gulls off in the distance at one of the wharfs calling out for food. The sky is a perfect color of blue, although there seems to be a fog bank out in the direction of the ocean that is fighting with the sun and losing. I can see boats coming into the harbor right up the Channel, turning the calm water into white froth. Turkey vultures are soaring through the sky, using the wind to lift them without a single flap of their wings. The warm wood of the deck is soothing on my bare feet and the slight breeze that's making the tree branches gently sway feels delightful. It's really the perfect, idyllic morning and I'm sorry it's taken a few years of coming up here to finally win the weather lottery.

The rest of the day will likely be more of the same. I brought up some of my old art supplies, something I've been wanting to take up again after having been away from sketching and drawing for years. This place inspires me, and I want and hope to somehow capture the kinship I feel with this place. I still think this town would be the perfect setting for a fantasy novel, for it possesses a quiet mystique if you only know how to see it.

Yep, definitely a stress-free day.