Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace,[a] be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
Mark 4:39
We are on day 153 of 15 days to slow the spread.
Y’all are just gonna have to be okay with the fact that my yard won’t be mowed until we get back from the beach. If you’re not from around here, Virginia is pretty soggy these days. We had some sunshine today, but I’m writing this on Monday evening and looking out at the rain. Even if the predicted sun comes out tomorrow (I will hurt you if you sing that song), it won’t be dry enough to mow. We’ve got storms coming the rest of the week.
Saturday morning, we leave for the beach. Have I mentioned that we’re going to the beach?
I might have.
I’ve been making my lists, and checking them twice, for days. Maybe weeks.
We’re looking at a different experience for the beach this year. We haven’t been in a few years, but we love to spend time on the Outer Banks for North Carolina. Things worked out and we got a good deal on a house. We hope we like it.
COVID has changed things. Friends tell me that the restaurant situation there is pretty good, but we still plan to stay pretty close to the house.
True story: I’d be happy to just spend all day every day on the beach, come home and have whatever for
dinner, and do it all again the next day.
But I’m the only one in our small party that feels like that. So, I’ll get up early to see the sunrise, stay on the beach until at least noon, and we’ll go from there.
I have a stack of books to read. I have some writing projects that I’m taking to work on.
I have also given myself permission to do none of that.
I should also take the time to tell you that you’ll have to do without your Daily Dose of Brilliance™ next week. I will not be blogging from the beach. Look on Instagram and Facebook for photos.
I am grateful that we have the opportunity to go to the beach this year. Like I said, it’s been several years since we’ve been able to do this.
It’s been a stressful year for all of us. I look forward to just letting the salt air blow the cobwebs out of my brain.
If I can have that. It will be enough.
You may not be able to get away to your favorite place this summer, whether that’s the beach, or the mountains, or anywhere else that is “away from it all.”
But, find some time to take care of yourself.
Unplug from social media. Get some fresh air. Have healthy groceries delivered instead of Door Dash.
We all seem a bit cranky right now. Face it, we generally are in an election year anyway. But this year has the added bonus of a pandemic and rioting in the streets.
Government isn’t going to fix this no matter who is President. The media isn’t going to fix this. Hollywood isn’t going to fix this. The CDC and the WHO aren’t going to fix this.
Oh sure, they all have their roles to play in leading us and keeping the peace. Some play them better than others.
None of them will stop the smartass responses on Facebook. None of them will stop the sharing of that deliberately distorted story on Twitter.
That’s up to us.
The fact that I’m not getting into the middle of political arguments on social media doesn’t make me better than you. I’ve told you before that I used to play hardball politics.
I’ve just learned that there’s no point. More than twenty years on the Innerwebz and I don’t know that I ever “won” an online argument.
No, that’s not right. Of course, I won because my position was always right. It’s just that the other side couldn’t admit it.
Sorry…was that my outside voice?
I’m not kidding myself by thinking that a week at the beach will solve all of my problems. And I know that when we get back school starts, the election kicks into high gear, the holidays are not far behind.
In a sense, next week will be the calm before the storm.
That’s right NOAA, the calm BEFORE the storm.
Photo by Felix Mittermeier on Unsplash
Found myself singing this song this week…