Fast week! Tomorrow we head back south to Brevard. It will be nice to re-enter wedding preparation mode with the sense of gratitude and peace that comes with being in this place.

I’m ready!

“Nick Hornby’s columns are as rich and varied as the world of literature itself, with Hornby perfectly cast as both tour guide and host…insatiable bibliophiles will devour them with delight.” – San Francisco Chronicle

Getting ready to leave on Friday for Long Beach Island, NJ. It will be wonderful to get my yearly ocean fix, especially right before the wedding. I love feeling refreshed and re-connected to the cycle of life at the shore. (Plus it stretches out the summer!)

Bay side sunset

Getting ready to go is always bittersweet.

I saw some interesting sea birds today – they looked like mini-pelicans. I don’t believe that we have pelicans in the northeast, so I wonder what they could be.

Talk to you again from Carolina…

makes me happy.
– John Denver

We’re closing in on the end of our stay here and I’m absorbing all the impressions that will sustain me until we can return. *sigh* There’s much to do when I get back and I’m looking forward to it, but transitions can be difficult. We’re planning to drive from LBI to Chapel Hill and from Chapel Hill to Brevard. Later next week we fly back to Sedona.

In the midst of our travels, I’ll be participating in a special on-line chat that I’m excited about. I’ve been invited to speak to an international class of Big Picture Scrapbooking students about focusing on the “here and now”. This is a pet project of mine that I hope to expand on once I’m back in Arizona.

Seagull Highway

Ocean moon rise

“The cure for anything is salt water – sweat, tears, or the sea.”

~Isak Dinesen

We picked up Lauren on Saturday night from the Philly train station. She’s nursing a nasty cold and this seems like the perfect place to do that.

I’m at the local library, connected to their internet.

I like staying in touch, but I have to admit that there are benefits to being unplugged at times — mainly being away from distracting background noises. You can hear yourself at the beach and not be interrupted as frequently by life’s ever-present dramas (including the incessant hammering of election campaign “news”).

We’ve found a fabulous clam chowder and I’m already reading my third book. Sometimes I’m amazed at how little it takes for me to be so content.

Hope you’re enjoying wherever you are.

LBI

Our computer connection is spotty, at best, this year so I’ll have to make this quick before I’m unceremoniously dumped.

As you can see, we’ve had sun and rain so far, but you won’t hear any complaints from me. I’m so grateful to be back at the ocean; there’s a kind of peace here I’ve never experienced anywhere else in my life.

Signing off until the internet gods smile down upon us again…