Spirit In Gear

Summer is Rest

Every time I pull into this rest stop in North Carolina on our way home from Ohio,  I want to stay and linger for an indefinite period of time.  The area is beautiful, providing a restful oasis.  Yet we rarely linger.  It's our last stop and home is 2 hours away.  It's also the time when I feel the most fatigue, at the tail end of a long trip.

Yet there have been 2 occasions out of many when we did give in and stay longer than the time it takes for a visit to the restroom.  One of these occasions was "forced" - my husband had a business call he had to be on for about 1/2 hour.  Lucky me - I laid on the grass and journalled - we had just returned from our older daughter's college graduation and I had many thoughts and emotions swirling around in my head and heart.

On the other occasion I was driving by myself and made a conscious decision to take time to rest and be present, giving up the self-imposed deadline of being home at a certain time.  Instead, I walked around, inhaling nature's beauty.  I later sat and did some writing.

I hope that I take more opportunities to rest.  That could be the most important "action" I take in that moment in adding to the quality of my life.

Photo Credit:  Debbie Call

Summer is Reconnecting

What do you get when your daughters travel east from Chicago, your sister and niece travel west from Ohio, and yours truly travels north from South Carolina?  A "Girls Only" weekend in Brown County, IN!

Armed with food, dark chocolate, and bottles of wine, we stake out our place in a beautiful vacation "cabin" in the woods.  The time whips by way too fast as we talk, reminisce, and listen to the dreams of our daughters.  For the sake of modesty (and the fact that pictures follow you forever on the worldwide web), I'll forgo posting the hot tub pictures!

After our precious weekend ends, I travel to Ohio to see my father, and later grab a few hours here and there with girlfriends on my last day in Ohio.

We have more trips planned this summer.  I am grateful for the modern conveniences of airplanes and fast cars that can get us to our destinations much faster than the horse and buggy days. 

May you find time to reconnect this summer.

Summer is Tranquillity

Nature provides moments of tranquillity if we remain present.

Photo Credit:  Debbie Call (shot in North Carolina) 

Summer Themes in Pictures

Over the next several days I'll be creating short visual posts that reflect one of the themes of summer.  Enjoy!

Life in "Summer Speed"

I've written snippets of this post in my mind for the past 2 weeks.  Between work, and long 4-day weekends travelling recently, my words have not found their way to my blog.  My  visitor stats reflect a plummeting spiral heading downward. 

And it's all okay.  I'm on "summer speed" - that time when life changes tempo, routines relax (or get thrown out the window), we get the urge to hit the road to see new sights, and desire to visit old friends and family.

Like children when school lets out for the summer, I breathe a sigh of relief that the changing of routine brings.  Summer speed gives me permission to chill out, assume a languid air, to take a break - even from blogging.  I hope other bloggers are following suit as well.  The extra daylight beckons all of us out into nature.  Summer = freedom!

Over the 4th of July my husband and I travel 90 minutes northwest into North Carolina.  We spend the weekend at Arbor House, a B & B in a little town called Black Mountain.  One of the upsides of being empty nesters allows us the freedom and financial means to take a number of weekend excurstions to B & B's.

Arbor House sits on a lake.  The temps during our stay were Colorado-like - sunny, high 70's - low humidity.  The town is a 1/2 mile walk away.  Hiking trails abound.

During the day we hike to a waterfall.  Later in the day we visit the town, and that evening watch the whole town turn out  for the fireworks, which actually were pretty decent.

Over the next few days I'll share more images of summer and what these pictures capture for me . . . stay tuned for some fun and lightness!

 Photo Credits:  Debbie Call

Snaps from Charleston R & R

After living in South Carolina for close to 5 years, we made our first trip to the beautiful city of Charleston last week.  Wow - it's my new favorite city in the South Eastern part of the US!

In place of a typical post, I thought I'd share some scenes we saw while there.

You don't want to be in front of this cannon - taken at Ft. Sumpter, SC

 

Care to spend 3 months in a submarine?  Here at Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum we just happened to go inside the sub when a navy man was giving his aunt an impromptu tour.  He was a veritable font of info about life on a sub. Serving on a sub is strictly voluntary and candidates who choose this undergo extensive screening.  Still, there have been 3 suicides this year on submarines, according to our informal navy guide.  Psychiatrists are part of the crew, I learned.  I was relieved to get off the sub - the "scent" of claustrophobia hangs in the air.

 

I cannot imagine sleeping in this!  All that snoring, and waves to boot.  You'll see it all aboard the Aircraft Carrier USS Yorktown.  When active, this huge carrier held 380 officers, 3088 enlisted men, and 90 airplanes!

 

Now onto the pretty stuff.  Springtime struts her stuff along the shoreline of Charleston.

Pastel Palette

 

Facing the shoreline - High End Real Estate!

 

One of a kind door

Ivy with an Attitude

Not Your Typical Back Alley

 

Stately Character at the Battery