I had no idea when I accepted my brother's
invitation to visit his new hideaway that it
was ten minutes from Gulf Shores, Alabama,
and the beach. He also did not tell me that
he did not have a phone there since he and
his wife are dedicated cellphone users. I am
not...ggg. So, I did disappoint him by not
getting one at the local cellphone outlet. I
did suddenly find my plans on keeping in touch
with friends and family tempered by the reality
that to phone I had to go to the local payphone
about ten minutes away at the corner gas
station.
I chose instead to savor the time away from
the computer screen and the ringing of the
phone I am used to. I spent a lot of time
walking on the beach, or sitting on my brother's
dock and watching the endless scene of birds of
all kinds coming and going. The flocks of
pelicans reminded me of what it might have
been like to watch pterodactyls in flight.
You do not see groups of 20-30 crane coming
and going in Texas, or be able to watch birds
diving for fish, where I live. Of course,
I lived in Florida for some time, and so
along with my immersion therapy in the nature
there, in my mind's eye, I swam in memories
of other times when I had come to the ocean
for healing.
I had forgotten how thick the snowbirds can
be in the winter and so found myself surrounded
by them. I had never been to the Mardi Gras
festivities and so found myself, along with
the other snowbirds, blending into the
celebration of excess, moon-pies and clamoring
for colored beads and baubles. My brother and
his wife only came on the weekends and so in
between, I spent time in one of those sweet
episodes of my life where I am somewhere no
one knows who I am or where I am going, or
where I am from. I was a lurker in life.
I was the writer in contemplation, soaking
up the sights, and sounds and savoring the
overhead snippets of conversation.
Since I was on vacation, I seemed to breathe
more deeply and to exercise my thoughts as if
I were on a marathon. Thinking, breathing,
watching the water, the sky, the people...
healing on many levels.
Fortunately, for me, one of the ladies who
lives where I do had plans to spend Spring
Break with her family. Otherwise, I may have
run the danger of pushing my return home back
week by week until Spring had turned into
Summer. I carefully lined up the 8 discs of
my audio book, "Think and Grow Rich", by
Napoleon Hill, the original version, and by
the end of disc 7 I was pulling into our
drive and crossing back into the equally
sweet security of my own bed and the joy of
friends and pets to meet me.
I have decided vacations, especially well-
spaced ones, are important for the purposes
of growing appreciation for who you are and
to enliven the sense of contentment of where
you live. I enjoyed the ocean probably more
than most but coming home to the Texan blue
bonnets and other spring flowers carpeting
the fields and to be welcomed home by my
friends who feared I would never return has
been as sweet and memorable as crossing the
line into a world were people embraced me
because they did NOT know who I was but
wanted to know more.
Part of coming home and jumpstarting my life
here also includes returning here to Curezone
and digging through the weeks of postings which
I missed for gems of wisdom and inspiration.
The first thing I did when I returned was to
prepare my garden. The second project included
buying a gallon of Maple Syrup and 3 bags of
lemons. As soon as I wean myself off coffee,
my plans are to do a 10 day Master Cleanse
so I can put some distance between myself and
the over-indulgence of seafood, celebratory
dinners with family, and my own culinary
exploration. I enjoy the control I feel
after a Master Cleanse. It resets my appestat
and reassures me that for the rest of my life,
food will always be there. I could have done
a much better job of resisting that sense of
vacation equaling freedom to do whatever I
wanted. I learned I do want to stay on my path
to maintaining my progress and "process".
I would like to think if I had been able to
keep up with my online habit of checking in,
I might have done better. Taking a break though
helped me in ways which I suspect I would never
have realized had I not been as secluded as I
was. I suspect it might be hard for me to turn
away again but since my family has extended an
open invitation for me to return, I imagine
that come next year, I will again fly from my
life and friends here to once again, walk in
the sand, admire life far from the Delgado
Delta. I will not buy a cell phone, and I will
most likely be fine with leaving the computer
behind.
I hope that all of you here who I consider
friends, are well~~
blessings,
Zoe
-_-