kestrel

kestrel
2019-11-29 23:45:53 (UTC)

November 2019: My Week Away

I decided after taking a week down at the shore last year for the week of USA's Thanksgiving holiday, that I would do the same this year. I commented to a friend of mine earlier this evening, "Third time's a charm," and I think after doing this same thing next year, I can call it a personal tradition.

The past week has been nothing but me recharging my personal batteries. I did everything I wanted to do, and tried new things. I listened to a fantastic, inspirational audiobook on the way down to the shore, and I will be acting on it in the year(s?) ahead. I used a public webcam on the boardwalk to send a message to a pen pal of mine in the Czech Republic, so she could have a friendly message on her lunch hour. I went metal detecting for the first time, and after a few trips out I found a total of 42 cents and an old rusty nail. I had what I call a "private moment" twice in one day, and loved every minute of it. I waded into the ocean and lavished the cold water wrapping round my legs and the scratching of the sand on my feet. My first night in town, I caught up with an old friend I'd known since my first year of high school (like, 1991?), and he and his family are doing well. He even treated me to dinner. Even the drive time in the car, there and back, felt surprisingly brief.

My phone had terrible reception for the entirety of when I was away, so even the phone was silent most of the time. I found that one of the most comforting things about my time away. People who wanted to reach me (ignoring the fact of just how infrequent that is when my schedule is normal) would just have to deal.

I had no cares for five days in a row. By the time this morning had rolled around, I felt it was time to go back. However, when checking out of the hotel and asked how was everything by the concierge, I replied, "I wish I had another week."




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