Living by the Ocean

So my Facebook memory today was a photo overlooking the beach from the balcony of my in-laws' condo in Delray Beach, FL. Ginger took the picture on her first visit there in 2011, and then a year later, our whole family had the pleasure of vacationing there, which was my first time there.

I chronicled each day of that vacation in my blog at the time (you can find those blogs on the right side of this page. Scroll down the years to 2012, and then to the month October. You can read each day there.)

We still lived in Indiana when that vacation took place. And it was interesting to read my thoughts about being near the ocean every day. It was on that vacation Ginger and I first really started considering what a move to the ocean might look like. It was very preliminary at the time, and ramped up with each visit we would make to our other in-laws' cottage here in Hilton Head, but it would be another four years before we would actually pull the trigger.

It was, in short, the best decision we ever made.

As I look back on that journal, I can see the wheels turning in the observations I make, and the questions I ask. I was really smitten with the sunrise, and the sereneness of the beach. I wondered aloud if the locals ever get used to its beauty. I reflected that the time I was getting to spend with our boys was dwindling. I pondered why things seemed so much more beautiful in a place like that, even though I was surrounded by God's beauty in many things every day in Indiana. I had to remind myself that every place was beautiful as long as I was with Ginger. 

That was over eight years ago. Both our boys, who were on that vacation with us, are now grown, moved out, graduated from college, living in Nashville, and married. Cody just gave us our first granddaughter. And we have now lived near the beach here in South Carolina for over four years. We don't visit that condo by the beach in Delray any more, mostly because we live by the ocean now, and partly because my Mother-in-Law has randomly decided she no longer likes me very much. But I digress.

So I have some new observations, so far removed from that vacation where we lived in Indiana but dreamed of living by the beach.

I questioned if the locals ever get used to the beauty of the beach, living by it every day. The answer for us is, no, we don't get used to it. The beauty of the ocean at any time of the day, but especially at sunrise, still takes my breath away every time I see it. And I often make a drive across the bridge onto the island every now and then specifically to get a look at the water. I WILL admit that we take it for granted far too often. It's very nice knowing we can get up and go to the beach any time we want to, but to our detriment, we don't go often enough. I have to remind myself at times that that's part of the reason we moved here.

I commented quite a bit about how relaxing that vacation was. Now, the laid back vibe of this place has a great deal to do with why we like it here so much. It's hard to put our finger on that vibe, but I can tell you its vastly different from every day life in Indiana. Everything is so laid back here. And the people are genuinely nice all the time. Life just moves at a slower pace, and that's a welcome change as time always seems to go by faster and faster as we age.

Life moves slower, but its still easy to get caught up in the mundane, every-day, ho-hum. Work and a myriad of other things can still get in the way, and so you still have to be intentional about taking a step back and breathing it all in once in a while. What's nice about living in a place like this is that there's a lot of opportunities to do that. A sunrise at the beach, a walk in the park, a golf cart ride down to the river (or to Walmart!) a round of golf at one of the seven courses within five minutes of my house, or just chillin' on the back patio under the most vivid starlight I've ever seen. A good friends of mine down here posted on his FB page a couple years ago, "The great thing about living here is that you don't have to go very far to feel like you're a million miles away."

I STILL get turned on at the site of my wife in swimsuit.

It's very cool living in a place with alligators and dolphins.

I mentioned the satisfaction I found in not always "seeing and doing," but rather "relaxing and being." It's very easy to do that here. There is indeed power in the ocean, the salt in the air, and the wind in my face.

Speaking of Florida... I still can't wrap my head around the idea that I can literally wake up in the morning, drive to Florida, and be back at home in my bed that night if I want to. In my brain, Florida will always be a days drive away.

I didn't use to like going back home from vacation. For 45 years of my life, leaving vacation was always depressing.

Not anymore.