"The Sand and the Sea"

My wife is the director of a school so she has a limited amount of time off during the Christmas season. The week before Christmas was spent getting the shopping done. The days immediately after Christmas were spent entertaining family. But the days between New Year's and the start of school were spent at Panama City, Florida.

Some of you might wonder why we would want to spend days at the beach in the dead of winter. But that is when I like to go. I like to be at the beach when it is cold and dreary. The colder and drearier the better. As you can guess that cuts down on the number of people who are there, and it also adds to the flavor of being huddled up in a warm room watching the elements.

When we arrived at Panama City Beach the streets were almost deserted. The New Year's crowd had departed and the sun seeking tourists had not yet arrived. The weather was actually nice, nicer than I wanted and the man at the gate of the condominiums where we were staying said we were in line for a terrific sunset. 

He certainly didn't lie. When the sun began to set, around five thirty Georgia time, the sky was a palette of purples and pinks. The sun seemed to be staging a battle royal not to set. It gave off a glow that only slowly faded, and left tinged clouds which seeped into darkness.

The next day a cloudbank rolled in around noontime, and by four o'clock it was dark. When we ventured out to eat the neon lights of the businesses along the main road were reflecting off the moisture in the air and looked like Christmas lights all over again. It made everything appear still and hushed and I loved the feeling.

While we were there we ate one meal out each day. You might think we would take advantage of the wonderful seafood establishments that line the streets. Sorry, that is not for us. Neither my wife nor I like seafood. So the first night we ate at the "Olive Garden." The second night we went to "TGIFriday's." And the last night we went to the "Roadhouse." Of course these are places we could eat at back home but we like the consistency of knowing what the menu will be.

We arrived at the beach on Thursday and stayed until Sunday. The time flew by and before we knew it the time for departure was at hand. Somehow I had managed to get a book and a half read, watched two videos, and slept an awful lot. I had become my usual slug while there. But I also had been without a computer or e-mail so I had been able to relax more than usual.

I really hated to come back because of my wife. She totally relaxes at the beach and loves the sound of the surf. It eases her mind, it relaxes her body, it calms her spirit. What is bad is that just as it begins to work its magic, it is time to come home again.

I asked her if it was depressing to have to go back home and start work again. I knew that she was grieving over leaving. But then she looked at me and said, "No, because I am going home with you!"

Now there's a woman to love.

 

 

 

 

 

©2004 Jackie K. Cooper

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