Life's a Beach

I spent the day, today, with Kaylanne; just the two of us having a 'girl's day', enjoying the great weather and the beach community life style. We did a little window shopping, shared a foot long sub, walked the beach together and did some people watching. It was such a simple day and yet I feel so rejuvenated and blessed to have spent the whole day in God's grace, healthy, happy and down right rich. Watching the little ones playing in the sand and surf, admiring the young adults as they strolled (and trolled), eyeing each other with appreciation, yet holding back from interaction with each other...it was a beautiful beach day. I am so glad to be able to spend so much time here, doing just these easy and natural things that bring such pleasure.
All of us are already getting tanned and the exposure has me self conscious, so the diet is in full swing. I know all of the rules and techniques for losing weight, it's just so danged hard to quit indulging in the sweets and snacks. Winter was so blasted cold and long that we spent almost all of it inside, eating and inert. Now I am paying the price. I'm glad that my suffering will be overshadowed by the beauty of this little town and the sea. If I have to give up the sweets, at least the fish is fresh and plentiful and this time of year the vegetables are so beautiful that they don't need to be drowned in butter or creamy sauces. Don't you just love my optimism??? Some people manage to start the new year with diets and exercise so that by the time the weather is conducive to being out of doors, they are fit and ready to go. Not me! I wait until the last minute and then spend the first two months hidden under loose clothing and hunting for deserted beaches for a place to swim and sunbathe. Nonetheless, the dreamed of metamorphosis is underway and I'm determined to lose enough to at least fit into last year's swim suit without having too much peeking out and feel OK enough to wear a breezy sleeveless blouse.
Tomorrow Tom and I will toss a bag full of clothes and sunscreen into the trunk of our little Miata and, weather permitting, put the top down and head south to meet up with his siblings and families in Florida. We've rented a condo on the beach just beyond Sarasota in a little seaside village named Nokomis. His brother and sister, with their respective spouses, are escaping the snow and winter weather of Ohio and will fly then rent a car and drive down to meet us. I think they'll be in for a bit of a shock, coming from the cold into the warm and tropical weather we're expecting to find there. It is beyond my comprehension why anyone would want to live in the north where the winters are so harsh...visit, sure, live there???? NO WAY! As beautiful as that part of the country is, and let me assure you, I appreciate it and find it gorgeous, but four or more months of snow and sleet just isn't my idea of the high life. Give me a walk along the beach at sunset any day. I guess it is good that so many are willing to live up there, though, otherwise it would be far more crowded down here in paradise. I guess that's about it, in a nutshell.