If we were having coffee: 4th of July edition

Clouds at sunset.

Celebration — is self restraint, is attentiveness, is questioning, is meditating, is awaiting, is the step over into the more wakeful glimpse of the wonder — the wonder that a world is worlding around us, that there are beings rather than nothing, that things are as we ourselves are in their midst, that we ourselves are and yet barely know who we are, and barely know that we do not know all this.

~ Martin Heidegger, 1942

A sunset from last weekend.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you how happy I am to see you again.  Come on in.  We’ll take our beverages out to the porch, or if you’re up for a swim, we’ll hop in the pool and enjoy our chat and drinks while we whirl around the lazy river of the current caused by the pool pump.  There is plenty to choose from in terms of food and drink so I’ll leave it to you to decide what you’d like to have.  Our cucumbers have been coming in and that means homemade pickles.  Help yourself, if you so desire.  They are pretty tasty.

In the pool.

How are you?  What have you been up to since our last chat?  Have you taken any good walks?  Visited any gardens or parks?  Read any good books?  Seen any good films?  Has life been treating you well?  Have YOU been treating you well?  Have you been on holiday (vacation) or traveled anywhere on business?  What’s blooming in your world?  How has the weather been?  Did you see the full moon the other night?  Have you been watching Jupiter and Venus as they move closer to each other?  If you’re in the U.S., do you have any plans to watch any 4th of July fireworks?

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I haven’t been doing much reading lately.  I have been busy spending time with family, and that kind of time spent is much better than any book, film, or television show.  We crammed a lot into a short amount of time.  It will take me hours to tell you about it all, but I’ll try to hit just the highlights.

Looking out over the sound at sunset.

Before I get to the highlights, I would also tell you that today is the 40th anniversary of the day M and I met.  I thought I told the story somewhere, either on this blog or my old blog, but I can’t find it anywhere.  Perhaps I meant to and never got around to it.  There are so many other things to talk about now that the tale about how M and I met will have to wait.  I told a shortened version of it to my oldest granddaughter and maybe, when I get to that part of their visit, I will tell it to you, too.

Last night M and I decided, on the spur of the moment, to go to The Freeman Stage to see (and hear) Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue.  It was an incredible performance, and a great way to kick off our own celebrations.  We danced and danced and danced.  I can’t remember the last time I had such a great time.  I can’t remember the last time I danced so much.  I really should do that more often.  When was the last time you danced?

Having fun at the Hide Away Grill.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that M and I spent last Sunday evening, Monday, and Tuesday with our granddaughters and their parents.  They arrived here at the ranch on Sunday and had to leave Wednesday morning.  More time with them would have been wonderful, but I am deeply grateful for the moments we did have.  We were able to give them a small taste of what it is like to live here on the Eastern Shore.  We got off to a good start with a tour of the Wabi-Sabi Ranch followed by dinner and sunset at the Hide Away Grill on Sunday.

Exuberance.

The menu at the Hide Away might not be extensive, but the food is good, the service is friendly, and the kids enjoyed being able to run around and turn cartwheels on the sand.

More exuberance.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that my first glimpse of my granddaughters when they arrived almost made my heart burst, as it always does.  Maybe “burst” isn’t the right word.  “Expand” might be more appropriate.  They must think I’m a strange bird.  I tend to want to try to absorb every detail about them during the time we have together, and I wonder if that doesn’t make me seem too intense at times.

Not yet!

If we were having coffee, I would warn you that I was wrong about “hitting just the highlights.”  I suspect I’m going to want to share every detail I can with you.

Looks ominous, doesn’t it? This was a few hours after the storms moved through on Saturday and Sunday (sunset on Sunday).

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that on Monday we went to Assateague to look for wild horses, seashells, and to spend time on the beach.

Small footprints in the sand.

M and I have seen small groups of horses, usually several small groups, every time we have gone to Assateague Island.  Every.  Time.  Except this time.  There was one in the parking lot at the state park portion of the island.  It looked like the same horse who was checking out beach blankets and coolers during our last visit to Assateague.  Later, as we were leaving, we saw a few horses off in the distance, coming off the beach at one of the campgrounds.  Otherwise, no horses.  It was disappointing, especially since I’ve been telling the girls that we’ll see horses when they come to visit.  We did see them, of course.  Just not the way I had expected, hoped, and planned.

Watching the waves.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that this is the first time I’ve gone to the beach with my granddaughters, and I hope it is something we will do again and again and again while M and I are living out this way.  It was a fun and relaxing experience.  The girls seemed to enjoy it, as did their parents.

Watching the sand and waves.

If we were having coffee, it would probably be time for me to hand over the conversation to you before I talk your ear off.  There is more to tell about my granddaughters’ visit, but I’ll save it for another day.

Playing.

Thank you so much for visiting today, and sharing a little time and conversation with me.  If you’d like to hang around for sunset, it is scheduled for 8:29 PM.  I’m not sure we’ll see much.  We have had a lot of cloud cover today, and thunderstorms are in the forecast for late afternoon and early evening.  But you never know.  We might even see a rainbow.

One horse is better than no horses at all.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

This post is in response to Part Time Monster’s #WeekendCoffeeShare.  Put on the kettle, start the coffee maker, open a bottle of wine, or whatever your preference is, and join us.  I’d love to hear all about what you were up to this week.