BOOOP

I slept in on Friday.  By the time I had my coffee, toodled around on the computer, fed the kitties, and resolved that my missing keys were not in any drawer, cupboard, nor under any furniture, in any normal spot, nor in the garbage, the recycling, the refrigerator or freezer or any insanely unlikely spot, I had wasted yet another morning.  I mentally went through what I had hoped to achieve, and what I wanted to achieve.  There was the obvious mandatory phone call to the landlord to get the locks changed.  I should really get back to the hospital's administrative office downtown and try again to pick up my last paycheque.  Call the pensions company.  Check the government pension.  Close accounts.  Bake and stop by work.  Due out for the 2nd last Friday night in town for happy hour at 5pm at the Newstead.  Go for a run.  Do the laundry coz i need that white dress for Sunday.  As I looked at the clock and assessed how this was all going to play out, I made the wisest decision I have made in days.  I listened to the little voice in my head.  And what that little voice told me was this.  Boooooop it (although it didn't say boop, but I think a little censorship is necessary how and again).

That little voice inside is pretty smart.  It often lies dormant, not saying much, and carefully watching for just the right time to speak up when the logical side of my brain is having its nap.  "OK," I heard it say when someone said they would learn to play volleyball when I learned to skydive.  "Or...you can move to Bermuda," it stealthily snuck in one fall day as the leaves were falling off the trees in Canada.  Well, on this particular day, boop it may not have been much of a revolutionary concept, but it was a fabulous idea.  I grabbed my bathing suit, a coverup, and hopped on the scooter to go to the beach.  My first thought was Elbow Beach -- closest and hopefully quietest.

No way, not only were there people, but a tent??  I have a scooter, I can find a private beach for myself I thought, and carried on down the road.  Next stop was Warwick Long Bay.  I parked at the far end and walked in, knowing it was likely to be deserted.  Much better!

that looks better already

I laid out my towel, ran my fingers through the pink sand, and checked the time knowing I couldn't stay too long in the sun with so much skin that hadn't seen the sun since last summer.  SPF?  Actually, I am a believer in the new research that says the body needs a very short exposure to UV light daily to boost vitamin D production, which has the health benefit of better bone density, less Multiple Sclerosis, less cancer, and many more such things.  They are pretty specific that it should only be 15-20 minutes per day, so that it what I have decided on.  15 min each side, 30 in total.  I could be as baked as a rotissiere chicken in that time anyway.  That's about long enough to go for a quick swim, and dry off.  Anything more than that, and I would be reaching for the SPF 30, 55, 65, or 85 that I keep close by. So don't think I take the sun too lightly, we just all need a little bit.  But back to my beach day.

Warwick Long Bay

This was my first swim of the year.  I use the term swim lightly, because what I actually do is more of a float with some direction orientated arm flailing.  It didn't take long for the undercurrent to pull me out a little further than I wanted to be, requiring maximum speed flailing, and then I stayed a little closer to shore.  As I floated in the crystal clear azure waters, I felt stress melt away.  I congratulated the little voice on a job well done.  The little voice was not done though, and it had a bit of a stern conversation with me.

cool, glistening, clear blue waters await me these last days

"This is YOUR time," it told me.  "You promised that you would make this time about you.  To walk, run, go to the beach, and float in the ocean.  This isn't a time to rush about doing tasks, to book a thousand catch ups, to rush about taking photos.  You were to do that in your last year.  You have to make these last days just about you and the last things you wanted to do."  "OK, I promise."

And so, I floated lazily in the water and decided to let it all go.  No commitments.  No rushing.  What isn't done now does not need to get done.  What needs to happen in August will happen in August.  If I don't have time to diet and exercise and float in the water, then I will float in the water like a chubby little float toy and not care.  Because this is my vacation now.   I finally just relaxed and bobbed about in the water.

And so, when I found out our plans of Friday Night at the Newstead had been dashed, and the hotel had cancelled their Friday night event for the season due to not enough attendance, I met friends for an hour or so at Flanagan's, and didn't feel bad at all about going home at 9pm to indulge myself in some extra sleep.  It is a vacation now after all.