Dear Mom & Dad: August 20th

 

Dear Mom & Dad,

It's a beautiful Sunday morning.  So perfect that I headed up to St. Simon for the early morning service.  It is such a  beautiful little church; fitting into the landscape like no other could.  I went since one of your favorite (my favorite) pastors was in the pulpit and because it seemed like the right thing to do.  Furthermore,  I had a dream that I took both of you there today.  (Sort of...you know how dreams are...never quite right.)  

This has been the sort of weekend that you would want.  One that borders on (dare I say it?) perfect. All three of us came down, along  with your grandson's girlfriend, on Friday night.  An exhausting day as it was your grandson's last day of summer work (and it was crazy) and we had to stop at ShopRite to pick up a few things for the weekend that I couldn't have gotten earlier in the day.   We were all pretty tired when we arrived.

Although it wasn't too hot Friday night (or last night for that matter), we had to close up the house and put on the air conditioning.  New people own the little brown house across the way and they have been partying.  (We tried to count how many people they had crammed on the deck, dock and backyard area and came up with about 26.  It was hard to tell since they kept moving and yelling.  Everyone has the right to party and have friends/family over, but this was pretty ridiculous.)  I think you would have been amused AND annoyed. (And yes the outdoor lights were on all night long.  You can keep the blinds drawn in the bedroom, but light still seeps through.)

The house was pristine when we arrived as Charlotte and Anna had cleaned on Tuesday.  I wish I could say it stayed that way, but part of shore life is sand, so...Plus there is NO way to keep those pine needles from the tree next door out of the house.  I bought a mat for the back door and we all wipe our feet, but they just keep coming in no matter what.  Still, the porch is cleaner than it has been in years (although the "bird"plates are still in the crate out there...Mom, you said you'd do something with them and never were able to...now I'm in the same boat.  Those "things" that we were told were worth so much, are not wanted any more! )  I sat out there and read for a good chunk of the afternoon (since I didn't want to get too much sun and there was a west wind for part of the day which meant...FLIES).

As far as weekends go, this has (thus far) been the perfect "typical" one and hopefully a great way to wrap up the summer for a young man who will be heading off to his first year of college later in the week.  We've enjoyed the best of the shore.  There was the purchase of a larger crab trip and new net (my wallet always hurts when we are down here) so that the teens could crab off the dock.  There were "crab races" and the famous Foster crab stick was pulled out of storage.  (No crab was large enough to keep; not that we would.)  The teens went to the beach at low tide yesterday, and it was the kind of day that you loved.  A little puddle of water to float in before you reached the bar and the "big" waves beyond.  There was a family dinner with corn (which got stuck in everyone's teeth).  There were walks.  A visit to the ice cream shop (even though ice cream bars had been purchased at ShopRite) .And of course, there was Wawa.

Peaches were picked, although most have already been attacked by birds and bugs.  Some had already fallen prey to some (unknown) wildlife as a half devoured one lies rotting on the small deck outside the master bedroom.  The picked ones are not yet ripe, but they are larger than what we usually get and I am hopeful that they will actually be edible this week.

There's not much wind this Sunday morning (isn't that typical?).  It's getting hot and you know by the time we leave (whatever time that might be), it will be broiling (and the traffic will be awful...again it doesn't matter what the time is, we WILL get stuck and I will get frustrated despite my best efforts not to.)

What I really wanted you to know is that this weekend, the house was really what it was always supposed to be:  well loved.  The only thing missing is the both of you.  

Love you both,

Me