Comfort

After four days in rather primitive conditions (my sister's lake house/cabin), rather crowded conditions (9 people), rather ... okay, the food was great (my brother's cooking), we're in a hotel. I walked into the room last night at 11p, sunburned (see below) and exhausted (ditto), took one look at the bed piled high with pillows and the sink counter piled high with shampoo and lotion (we got a suite), and I almost fainted from happiness. Rough-and-ready Bunny, I'm not.

I had a blast, though. The whole trip was fabulous, but our time at the lake was amazing. Thrown together by lack of space, a family could implode. Ours got closer. We had no TV, no internet to speak of (my brother did have his remote access card but only on his work laptop) - we didn't even play the radio. We talked. And played games. Now, admittedly, they talked into the wee hours, which meant I didn't sleep as much as I'm used to doing, but even that worked out in the end. I can honestly say that I love my family - with the authority of recent testing.

I got some antique store hunting in (couple of nice gold and maybe-gold pieces), but my favorite time was fossil hunting. This is Texas. We found a huge clam-like fossil (pictures when I'm not on the road) that I couldn't have brought with me without a rock saw and a crane, but then I seached the surrounding area and found some nice corals, anemone-like critters, and a few other things I can't identify. It was fun. I'm sunburned.

More stories later, definitely pictures later, but I had to sketch it out before we raced out of town. Onward and outward, to the next state, the next antique mall, the next time zone, and the next long conversation with the Big Lug.

Funny. I just realized we haven't even turned on the radio in the car, not once. Just him and me for hours at a stretch, talking or silent, holding hands or staring at the passing scenery, reading maps or tiffing about some silly thing or another. Just being, just together.

That's not just comfort; it's heaven.

Relativity

I found a diamond on Thursday, after all - not in the Crater (that was fun, but fruitless) but in a little shop I hunted during a late break. It was in a beautiful (and inexpensive) 14K charm shaped like a stylized lily - very Art Nouveau, very me. Since I'd also found a gold chain on the cheap in an antique shop in Tennessee (sporting a hideous pentant in the costume stuff) I now have a fabulous gold-and-diamond necklace for under $30. With the pair of pretty gold earrings I found in the same basket ($5 - needed some serious cleaning) I have a new "outfit" for my jewelry box.

And then there's family.

I'm actually writing this on the fly - I have pictures of the Crater, and some other stories to tell, but we're driving 300 miles today to get to my sister's other house, the one on the lake, so we can spend a few days on jet skis. It's a major undertaking. My mom needs oxygen, so we have both her machine for the house and tanks for the trip. She also needs her wheelchair and/or her new scooter. I'm driving the van with all that and my teenage nieces while my sister and my brother and sister-in-law drive back through a different town to return the rental car to their airport - they don't need it where we're going, not with that many cars already there.

I didn't have a good attitude last night when this plan was hatched - the only logical plan, by the way. It had been a good day. Not only did I clean up all of my new jewelry (and discovered the gold earrings really were gold) but I found out my sister-in-law had a Tiffany & Co. bracelet that she'd gotten from a company she worked for 15 years ago, a bracelet she loved and wore ever day - a bracelet that obviously matched the earrings I found at that yard sale. Of course I gave her the earrings - why else had I found them? - and though I had a twinge of sadness, it was worth it to see it reunited with its set-bit, and worth it even more to see her face.

So I'm working on it. I love my family. My sister has the care of my mother 24-7, every day, and she does it with love and patience. She is a model for what I want to become, for what I plan to be today and all through the week. I only hope I can live up to her standards, and never forget where the real treasures in my life are found.

Another Diamond Day?

Amazing what expectation can do for you, isn't it? Today's the day at the Crater of Diamonds.
We checked it out last night - scoped the place out, so to speak. Bought some souveniers. Bought the ticket after 6 so it's good all day today. Watched a video on how to sluice. Even walked the field for awhile.

I found a chunk of agate that will polish up gorgeous. I found a wedge-shaped hunk of jasper. No diamonds yet. Maybe today, my mind whispers. Maybe it's my turn.

Expectation. It's almost as good as the real thing. Even if I find nothing in the field, I've already discovered that this place is a little slice of generosity, proof that the abundance of the planet is just there for our pleasure.

Treasure for the taking. Whether diamonds, agates, or just a wonderful day in the great outdoors, this is a special place.

Hurry, Hurry, Hurry

It's astonishing how much energy goes into last-minute things, No matter how much you've gotten done, there always seems to be about sixteen hours of stuff you can't do until right before you leave. I didn't get as much done as I'd wished (worked myself into a migraine on Friday), but I do believe it would still be like this - rushing around, making myself crazy, wondering why I ever travel.

I'll remember as soon as I'm on the road - which will be as soon as I post this.

Right now.

Driving Forces

Our "vacation" starts Monday. Now, I put that in quote marks, because, like everything else I do, nothing has only one side to it. On the way to Texas, we plan to make multiple stops, including one at Crater of Diamonds in Arkansas (after a t-storm, I hope). We will shop antique malls, hit some weird and wonderful places of touristy interest (I'm letting him choose a few), and we will not drive too far in any one day.

Perfect, right?

Of course - once we get out of here. Until then ... just shoot me.

I'm writing this in a hurry in between balancing the checkbook, making sure all the bills are paid and things like paper delivery is suspended, double-checking the dog's boarding arrangements and the cat's caretaker, finishing up the "sod" (despite a bit of mud), and clearing all the surfaces in the house (so I can dust and vacuum tomorrow before I start in on the packing). I spent three hours yesterday cleaning my jewelry, another two finishing the reservations and arguing with my mother (who wants to pay for our hotel), and at least thirty minutes printing out confirmations, coupons, and maps. This is in addition to geting the car inspected, then teaching until 9:30 last night and waking at 5:30 because a much longer list ran uncontrolled in my head - in addition to the above, I leave early today to get the Big Lug's tea, some material for tonight's class from another location because nobody in the office planned well, and get a book that's on hold.

Oh, and did I mention I must do it all now because Saturday and Sunday are 12-hour work days?

I know, I know, I can farm some of it out, right? I already have. And prioritized. And let go of the more perfectionistic items. I'll probably even ask my daughter to come over and vacuum, maybe clean the bathrooms, while we're away before this is all through. But some things only I can do, and I will - some time.

I want a vacation. I need a vacation. And I will darned well get one. Just as soon as I do this one more thing ...