"sitting in the morning sun. i'll be sitting when the evening come. watching the ships roll in, and i'll watch them roll away again. i'm sitting on the dock of the bay watching the tide roll away. i'm just sitting on the dock of the bay, wasting time..." sitting on the dock of the bay, by otis redding

wow! it finally got here! vacation time, that is. i had to listen to my co-workers and friends talk about their summer beach trips, but finally my time to go arrived. my husband and i like to go to the beach in the fall. it is less crowded, yes- also, less expensive, and the weather is just great for a fair skinned redhead. i still use sunscreen and wear a hat with spf 50, but if i were to come here in the summer, i would look like a lobster in no time at all.

this has been about my most restful trip, or vacation, in quite some time. last year we came to the same place that we have been going to for about the past four years( the outer banks of north carolina) but it was just after my dad had passed away. we had had the privilege of taking him with us to the beach three times( one year we came twice- once in the spring and fall). he had his own room in the house- we rent the same one every year, so it was sad.last year,  i had already paid for the trip, so we went, but it was not really a happy time. this year, i miss him terribly, of course, but grief has a way of, while still being there, becoming a little less sharp. last year, we released a balloon over the ocean with a message to dad tied on the string. i think that i will do it again this year. on some level i think that he knows that we are here, and he is wishing us a good vacation.

o.k. sad stuff out of the way. i have been doing a lot of sitting on the " dock of the bay" while i have been here. my husband and i walked to the cape Hatteras light house yesterday which was about a two mile walk. i have been walking every day- hopefully it will help with the fact that i sure have been eating a lot of good food down here!( unfortunately, there are no zumba classes down here as yet.) i love to go shelling on the beach. my husband looks for sharks teeth, but i look for sea glass. it is my new favorite thing to collect. i have found about six pieces so far- one rather large, the rest, rather small. to me they are the little gems of the ocean. i love rocks and gemstones anyway. come to my house and you will see piles of them in window sills, on tables,etc. i like to look at them and be reminded of the beauty of nature.

i know that i have said it many times, but being sick has made me more thankful for the good times in my life. i have been going, going, going lately. i have been trying to fix up my dad's house to sell, as well as working full time. everyone, whether you have been sick or not, whether you have thyroid disease  or some other chronic illness, needs more rest time. we push ourselves to do more and more and at some point our body says:" no way, no how! i need to go sit on the dock of the bay and rest for a spell!"

another thing my husband and i have done is to go to the Pea Island bird sanctuary. we saw lots of ducks, geese, herons, and ibis, to name a few. it was a very peaceful place. we need more peaceful places to go to rest our spirits and re-fuel. i am about half-way through my vacation. i am not ready to go back home yet.. i am sure that by the end of the week, i will be missing home and my family and will  want to go home. it is a long time until next october,though, so i will just try to absorb all of this wonderful vacation and hope that it carries me through until next year!