Everybody freeze, everybody get down on the ground

As we shake the last grains of sand from our clothes and smell the fleeting traces of salt in the air, I sit in our cramped "suite" and prepare myself for the final push toward home. There's always a mix of sadness and happiness when a vacation is over - but this year I feel mostly sad. It was the first time in a long time where I felt I had actually vacated the concerns of life. The weather wasn't always perfect, nor the times the picture of perfection and joy, but I feel energized and blessed and ready for the short cycle of waking, working, eating and sleeping with renewed vigor. I was able to enjoy a stupendous birthday celebration full of redneck goodness; thanks to the creative party magic of my sister, Jean (Polaroids to follow in a few days), drink some incredible wine with my dad and our close family friends, fly a kite with my sister (on what could have been just another dreary rain soaked day), watch a great movie with the kids, spend some time with some out of town friends and an evening away from the kids with what I can only now consider a new part of our family (the Worleys). My heart is full. Now I have to go pack up the van and enjoy my Father's Day on my ass for 6 to 7 hours. Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there; enjoy a beer or wine, a game, a good book and take it easy.