Spring Break Mini Get Away: Alabama's Gulf Coast -Day One

It's Day One of our Spring Break Mini-Vacation and I am still basking in the momentary leisure of a first day in the Central Time Zone - it's almost like a just recompense for the hour stolen from me last weekend.

I say that I am enjoying a leisurely moment - despite the fact that my quiet time has already been disrupted once since starting this post. Perhaps I will get to complete my thoughts before the next event.

For us, the first day of a trip is always somewhat traumatic... it is as if the world in which we are tightly ensconced is not willing to let us go without a fight.  For that reason, our road trips usually include some tense moments; but somewhere along the way -after arrival - we find something like that "click in our head" that Paul Newman's character referred to in the movie Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.  For him the "click" was induced by excessive amounts of alcohol applied liberally - and the "click" was a sense of peace that was more numbness than tranquility.

For us the "click" just means that we all move into a shared vacation mindset and we just relax a bit.

Well, our tension began with us being fairly unprepared to leave yesterday after R. and I came home from work; and expecting to get prepared and packed and away from home at a time that would allow us to arrive some time before the wee hours of the morning.

Because we were tagging up with another family (R.'s boss) who were using the condo the first part of the week and turning it over to us for the remainder, we didn't have to worry about checking in or any of the other hassles associated with the typical arrival at a vacation spot.  That was good.

I drove and because I had risen early that morning - I was extremely drowsy along the way. My plight was fraught with self-pity since it seemed that each individual in my family was equally occupied by his or her own electronic device and I was left to be the victim of the dissonant convergence of all of the noise of those devices. 

Translated:  no one was talking to me and I couldn't listen to what I wanted to listen to on the radio.... and I needed a cup of coffee real bad.

We finally made it ... in the said "wee hours" ... (Ab - ever the optimist- reverted quickly to Central Time and reported that it was not all that late). . . . for people nearing their 50's, 2:30 AM is late in any time zone!  We went straight to bed.

We were awakened this morning by a fire alarm.  Since the clock by my side had not been adjusted for daylight savings time, I don't know what time it was - trust me - it wasn't late enough for me to have slept the allotted 8 hours required -er strongly suggested by the Wellness Department where I work.  I made the subconscious decision to go ahead and get burned  up rather than to disturb my slumber.

Ab - who was the fire captain of her class in school last year - soon appeared in our room.  Her brother was in tow.  They both pointed out that it was a fire alarm.

I must say that I had to apologize to her later for my response.  In my semi-sedated state, I was thinking - "she is just in here to mess up my sleep - she is making too much of this! - It's just a fire alarm - it doesn't mean anything!" ... I did not say those words but whatever I did say included me rolling my eyes .... I'm sure I would not respond well should she roll her eyes at me.

We all dressed and went outside momentarily... learning from a neighbor that this is the sixth fire alarm this month - probably a symptom of spring break - we went back inside our condo.

R. and I returned to bed, it was about nine o'clock ...somewhere. 

The kids did not go back to bed - in fact they had been up before the fire alarm ever sounded.  AA was pacing the ever-shrinking condo like a caged animal.  Both he and Ab displayed a giddy sort of nervous energy that had to result from excitement and lack of sleep.  I knew that they probably needed food more than I needed sleep and the snacks that we brought with us would only sugar them up more; so I got up.

We embarked on our first adventure ...

...on foot ...

... in search of food.

Maybe a half mile - maybe more, we discovered it:  WAFFLE HOUSE

Oh, nirvana!

In order not to further disturb R.'s sleep (the "keeper of the purse"), I had borrowed ten dollars from AA and so I started calculating in my head whether we could afford a WAFFLE HOUSE breakfast.  In my typically fallible arithmatic style - I miscalculated - but this time it was to our advantage.  I set a four dollar per person limit as we waited for our table and I am happy to say that collectively we made that goal.

I should confess that it was me that went beyond the $4 limit - I needed to have coffee.

Before we made it back to our condo, we noticed a congregating mass of green near a local dive ... then we heard the bagpipes - it was a Saint Patrick's Day Parade!
So the kids and I made a quick detour and joined in (as spectators). 

It was a new experience for us - especially the green beer.

Okay - I'm just kidding - none of us imbibed, but it was a new experience, although I think I was more impacted than Ab and AA.  They quickly wanted to know when we were going to the beach.

There you have it ... all this excitement on our first day and it's barely lunch time.
As I tap away, R. has graciously greased everybody up but me and has taken the troops to the beach for some R and R. Leaving me to just a few more moments of solitude.

I realize this has been a long and somewhat pointless blog post but I have learned that I need to record those first day tensions because they are quickly forgotten when the vacation mindset becomes fully engaged.

Did I just hear a click ?

Old Man Still Got It?

Even though the title is fitting, this post is not about me.

Tanner is our chocolate Lab, he's been with us for about six years now and was probably much older than the 3 year old we guessed he was when we got him.

R. and I have speculated as to whether this might be his last winter with us.
He gets around - but it is a struggle and he can't stand up for very long at a time.
On cool mornings his teeth chatter. He has more grey hair than I do.

I don't know what kind of watch dog he would be, he treats most visitors - FedEx guys, Jehovah's Witnesses and Census takers - all with the same disregard.

When we got Tanner, I had a talk with him.  I told him two things:

1. I cupped his face in my hands and stared him in the eye and said "I am the Alpha-Dog!"
2. I told him that I wanted him to watch out for my kids.

He was pretty receptive to the Alpha-dog thing, but I haven't been real certain about the "watching over my kids" part.

As I have mentioned, last year my father-in-law purchased some land near us that we call "Pop's Farm".  Like bees in a new hive, he went right to work - restoring a large garden spot and bringing in a pretty impressive crop last year; he also had a dry pond dug out in hopes of restoring that.

To this point the pond has been a very large and smooth hole in the ground - with only an occasional puddle at the bottom.

Due to some impressive rains last week and the clearing of some channels feeding the would be pond, it is suddenly full.

Ab and AA have already developed an appreciation for skipping rocks and that appreciation has grown over the last few days.

Tanner may not be a bodyguard, but he seldom lets the kids make a trek to "The Farm" without him.

Despite all the commotion his tentative steps and laborious breathing stirred up on the walk over - Tanner seemed to have his youth somewhat revived when he got to the pond.

One of the reasons we were given Tanner, was because his previous owner couldn't use him - he had become gun shy; but I suspect that he was reliving some of his glory days, go after birds in his imagination.

He circled to the other side of the pond, watching our flat stones skipping and splashing across its surface. 

Then it happened.

I heard a splash . . .

...there he was

...paddling across.

My first thoughts were of worry.  The pond is pretty deep, and it was getting pretty cold ... I admit that if he had started going down  - ... well, I wasn't sure what I would do.  I think I prayed a quick little, silent panic-prayer.

Ab and AA coaxed to an earlier exit to the side.

And he made it.

The old man had proven that - in a pinch, he still had the goods.  He emerged to a celebratory welcome to which he responded by a crowd-dispensing shake (could have used him in Madison last week).

As the sun settled behind the horizon and the temperatures cooled even more, we headed back home.  Tanner made the walk back with a little less struggle, a little more tail-wagging and a sense of confidence regained.

It spoke to me as I approach my first half-century mark in life.  I think sometimes there is great value to be gained from an old man just plunging in.