There, and there, and back again

I’m back.

It’s taken me a couple of days to catch up on everyone else’s blogs. (Y’all had some pretty interesting discussions while I was gone!). It’s also taken me a couple of days to post here, because my trips were so full and fun that it’s hard summarize them into a few paragraphs. (Read: prepare for a very long post.)

The beach was sunny, sandy, warm, and generally delightful. What a gift from God it was to spend several days swimming, reading, and playing games with my beloved family after so long away from them. Card games, good books, glowing sunsets, the waterfront coffeehouse, tipping sisters off their floats into the ice-cold water, brownies, napping on the hammock while the breeze meandered through the beach grass, praying on the shore while the evening haze crept up from the ocean … it was lovely.

Our beach house has no air conditioning, so for a few days we weathered the near-90-degree heat by jumping into the near-60-degree water. (You should always scream when you jump into near-60-degree water. Then again, you will scream involuntarily.) One of our favorite family games goes by several names—Washing Machine and Chicken are probably the favorites. Players must sit on the sand close enough for the ocean to touch their feet as it washes up the beach. Each time a wave touches them, they must move closer to the waves. The first player to move, wash away, or otherwise wimp out loses.

After 5 days at the beach I flew to California for Torrey and Carrie’s wedding. It was a long trip—five airports in 36 hours, and that was just the trip out—but totally worth it. I stopped overnight at the Kileys’, whose hospitality is awesome. Their home is (and I use this word carefully) heavenly. A quiet, warm welcome and a place full of peace, beauty, and spontaneity are surely foretastes of heaven.

Then there was the drive up through the valley to Sacramento and east into the mountains for the wedding itself. The ceremony took place on the Moes’ front lawn, surrounded by their lovely gardens and the mountain cedar trees, with a garden arch for the entryway and a gazebo for an altar. Bob Donahue (of Grace Community Church) performed the ceremony, which was as full of joy as Torrey and Carrie themselves. As the ceremony ended, Torrey swept Carrie into his arms and ran down the aisle. (By the way, Katie J can do a spankin’ good tango too!)

My flights back to this side of the country were somewhat more eventful. The greatest adrenaline-producing episode came in Atlanta, where thunderstorms caused so many delays that we had to race to our connecting flight. The effect was pretty comical. That story to come in a later post.

There began the second week at the beach, with the family still there and also with good friend Cindy, my roommate-of-ten-years Jane, her husband and baby, and my brother’s lovely girlfriend. More swimming, good books, card games, crossword puzzles, and coffeehouse trips. Dolphins swam up and down the beach, and I paddled out in the kayak close enough to hear one blow and see the seaweed on his fin. One night the moon rose over the ocean while my sisters, brothers, and brother’s girlfriend sat in the gazebo atop the dune and sang.

I had planned to read Henry Beston’s The Outermost House, but I wasn’t in the mood for a naturalist’s descriptions of birds and waves on Cape Cod. Instead I made my first foray into Dorothy Sayers. (Many thanks to my sisters for urging me to it!) In two weeks I got through Strong Poison, Clouds of Witness, Five Red Herrings, and Unnatural Death, and I finished Have His Carcase after I got home. I find myself picking up Britishisms and wanting to end sentences with “and all that” a la Lord Peter. So far, although I admire Lord Peter, I have not fallen in love with him. I am jealous of him, but only with respect to his ability to summon the perfect literary quote for any occasion.

Now I am finally home again. But far ahead the road has gone, and I must follow if I can, and all that. (OK, that was Lord Peter’s influence.) The last few days I’ve been resume-writing and job-hunting. What exactly do I want to do forty hours a week? I’m still not sure, but I’m on the hunt for an editing position. I will let you all know what turns up.

More to come soon.