Mini-break

A strange switch happens around here at the beginning of September. The weather gods turn the dial from "unbearable" to "quite pleasant," and it seems like it happens overnight.

Thus, my friend Beverly picked a perfect time to spend a few days in Virginia Beach--she came down on Labor Day and left three days later.

Bev has come down the past two years and stayed with us, but this year she decided to upgrade to an oceanfront hotel room on the beach--good choice! I drove down on Tuesday morning and stayed over till Wednesday afternoon...we hung out and had a super time. It was so relaxing, just what I needed.

Here we are on a sailboat cruise of the harbor and river in Norfolk.

The top picture is the sunrise over the ocean, the view from Bev's hotel room Wednesday morning. We spent a couple of hours on the beach that morning, watching the choppy waves. I've never seen them so foamy--it was like watching whipped cream crashing and splashing on the shore. We've had just a ton of wind down here for five or six days, and it was particularly windy on the beach.

It was just great to spend some time with my friend and think about stuff other than the boring minutiae of my days. Somehow, sitting on the beach helps me think through things without really having to think. Don't know if that makes sense. It's like my brain can slow down and leisurely assess life while the rest of me is caught up in the display of waves and sunshine.

And Bev and I have known each other for such a long time...there's always old memories to laugh over and new things to talk about too, since we only see each other once or twice a year. I enjoy her company so much.

Thanks for giving me a Bridget Jones-style mini-break, B! Next time, can it include Colin Firth and/or Hugh Grant?