Recovery

It's been a busy fall. Evidence for that fact is that I haven't had much time for blogging. I miss it, too. Blogging, for me, is a way of organizing my thoughts and sorting through them. I find that I observe life better and am more grateful. I had a special opportunity today, though, to get away from it all in the middle of the week, and I seized it.

Our family welcomed back my daughter's sweet friend into our home this week. She moved away to Indiana with her family this past spring, and we have missed them all terribly. It's been with great anticipation that we've been looking forward to her visit. One of the things she wanted to do while back in Florida is visit the beach, so we loaded up this morning with a beach blanket and baggies for treasures and headed out to Mickler's Beach, our family's favorite spot!

The beach was quiet. There had been a few onshore showers which had kept most of the residents at home, but when we arrived the sun was mostly shining and the waves were crashing. The girls immediately took off for a long walk, and I sat down on my blanket and enjoyed the quiet.

I pulled out my knitting. I'm starting a hat for the folks at Tom Bihn. I cast on 79 stitches and started.

As I knit, I felt the tension dissolve from my shoulders. The soothing sound of the waves was much-needed balm. I could have stayed there all day. 

A special treat was a visit from a tiny crab, no bigger than the tip of my pinkie finger. 

He seemed a little unsure of himself on the wide expanse of the blanket and scuttled off as stealthily as he could. I managed to capture a photo of him just off the edges of the blanket. I think he felt he was camouflaged enough that he could rest in security.

I didn't get much knitting done. Only an hour later it was time to head back home to tackle more "to-dos," but it was okay. I had rested, regrouped, and recommitted myself to some knitting. All was well.

I hope it won't be long before I can head back!