Beach Bloggin'

I needed a break from all the moving, so I headed to the beach.
I headed to take my daughter to camp, actually, and decided to wait for her at a nearby Beach town.
She is going to the historical Camp Atwater,and no, its not a Fresh Air Fund Camp like the characters in Marrying UP said it was. I made that up. That's why its called fiction.
She's never been to sleep away camp before so I was worried that she would have a hard time. She is just a baby.
I tried to expose her to this type of thing before when we went to an overnight Mother-daughter camp with the Girl Scouts. I think I blogged about that too. In my heart, I knew that if that camp was anything like Camp Atwater, there was a good chance she wouldn't want to stay. It can't be a good experience if the one thing she remembers most is the smell.
Driving up to Camp Atwter it was a pleasant surprise. It was camp, but certainly less "rustic" than where we stayed. We rolled into expertly manicured and maintained grounds, clean cabins and a beautiful lake. And you know, I had to check out the kitchen and bathrooms. They all met the standards.
My daughter went off with her counselors while we waited for the parent orientation, and already, I could see problems. I was the one having separation anxiety, but I let her have her space.
I watched the people and hunted for a way to charge my phone. And yes, I did just plug it into a random wall socket without asking.
They told me that they would test her swimming ability IN THE LAKE and she would have to take lessons everyday.
Hmm. Now, you know how I am about natural water. I think that has passed on to my daughter. Even though the lake looked pristine, I couldn't imagine how they were ging to get her in there to administer her swimming test. We have vacationed at a lake near our home as long as she can remember and she has never been in the lake, maybe on it, but not in it.
Well, I came out of the parent orientation and prepared to say my goodbyes and guess what? Not only was she in the lake, but she was playing Marco Polo in that lake with her cabin mates. Miss Thing didn't even come out of the water to say goodbye. She just waved at her mom and continued her game. Sniff.
Well, I got in the car and I didn't cry. The next day, the camp director sent me photos of my child and she still seemed to be in one piece. Its been three days and she hasn't called, but I have written her a letter every day, just a short note.
They grow up so fast, but I am really happy for her. I already know that when I pick her up she will be beggin' to stay for another two weeks.

My first day at the beach was yesterday. Some friends of mine have a house here and we arrived in the middle of the night. They didn't tell me that their house (affectionately called HUBLEN) was in the middle of a wilderness preserve. No, for real. All the houses seem to have been swallowed by bramble. They left a lantern lit for me to find the hosue. There are no streetlights or curbs and it took awhile. To get to the beach we go to end of the road, and they hiked me for a good lOOOONg ways through a path cut through the brush. It was lined with what looked like wild tomatoes and what definetely was poison ivy. I was a trouper and hiked through it and made it to the beach.
I took off my clothes and sat in my chair to watch. (You didn't think I was actually going to swim, did you?) And then it hit me.
It was cold.
All of these northeasterners were running around nearly naked and soaking up the sun and I was cold.
There is a big difference between the 100 degree scorching hotness of Texas and the 80 degree with a strong wind feeling of Massachusetts.
It was sort of feeling like winter to me.
So I grabbed a towel and covered up as completely as possible, and watched the seagulls steal the food while waiting for the others in my party to be ret to go.
I let them go by themselves today.

I seem to wake up at the crack of dawn here. Houses here don't relly have air conditioning. Its not needed. They open the windows and let the breeze do all the work. That seems real charming except all the critters start making their ruckus at o-dark-thirty in the morning, a few minutes before daylight.
Back home on the ponderosa, I can't hear anything. My windows are closed up tight and I would be sleeping under the soothing hum of the central air. Plus I done moved to the country so there are no sirens or anything like that. Here, you hear it all. The dangs birds seem not to care that I am trying to get my beauty sleep.
Well, it occurred to me on the ferry over that all the people seemed to be rushing to get over here so they could then rush from their houses hidden in the bramble back to the water front where they wait like lemmings at the shore. The sound of the ocean drowns out the cawing of the birds that woke them up at the crack of dawn.

I'm done. I have to practice doing nothing. Did I mention that there is no Starbucks on this dang island? It night be the last un-Starbucked place on earth.

Comments

Girl, I need a get-away!!

I haven't even been online much. This is my first visit into cyberspace in a minute. Went to my blog to 'talk' to a few cool chicks and decided to check on you, via blog as you haven't contacted me to rub in how cool it is that you get to escape moving hell, lol!

Me? I'm still in the MIDST of moving hell and deadline hell, hahaha. But the squirt is happy so life is good and I'll quit grumblin' and complaining. *smile*

See ya when you come back from your get-away!

much love, chica
~K

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