After a great home-cooked meal with the Grants, we made a late-night drive down the Southern California coast to Vista, a town nestled in the hills between Oceanside and Carlsbad, just north of San Diego.
My brother Joe and his family live in a beautiful home that overlooks the valley. On a clear day, like the one we woke up to, you can see the ocean from his backyard.
After being cooped up with each other in a small car and in small hotel rooms for so many days, it was funny how we all scattered like magnets with opposite poles. Uncle Joe and Dylan were eager to play guitars together...they called it "Jamnation". After receiving a flamenco guitar for Christmas, Dylan was lucky to not only have an uncle who is actually quite an accomplished flamenco guitarist, but who also just happened to have an extra one laying around. They ripped it up pretty well on the electrics, too.
Emma had a ball with her cousins, Cameron and Logan. The big entertainment this day was Cami's new shades and Bear, the Bengal kitty...
This visit to Joe and Dannikka's place was all about slowing down, visiting, and eating. It was absolutely what the doctor ordered.
Logan was so animated, telling stories with his whole body like a wild man.
I took great early-morning walks, watching the blue moon set behind the inky hills and watching the sun rise. While the boys went to work out or bike or whatever they were doing, I napped, ate, puttered and helped around the house, chatted up my wonderful sister-in-law Dannikka, then napped and ate more. All this resting felt like such a luxury. I really needed it.
Here's a tip for anyone looking for something to get that 50-something man who has everything: a power slingshot. That thing provided hours of entertainment!
On New Year's Eve Day Joe took us out on his boat. I'd never seen it before. Larger than expected, I guess? Absolutely thrilling.
Joe's a dashing captain, isn't he?
We set out across the bay, past the pelicans on the rocks...
...by the seals clinging to this loud, clanging buoy...
...and out into the open waters.
I love the ocean. I told a friend recently that it woos me like a lover. I know that may sound a bit treacly and poetic, but I really do have that feeling when I'm around the Pacific. I must have been a mermaid in another life.
The salty, moist air just lets a person's skin breathe, you know?
It feels so refreshing and alive...
...like a purification.
Joe and Dannikka were so sweet to us ragged travelers. They threw a New Year's Eve party at their house that just continued the hospitality and congeniality they are so known for.
A bit hung over, but totally revived and relaxed, we headed back to Minnesota and the sub-zero temps on New Year's Day. It was quite harsh to return, and even Emma, the most die-hard Midwesterner in my bunch, said when she saw the thermometer's -17 the morning of January 2, "Mom, I think I might be open to living somewhere warmer..."
Ah, yes. Somewhere warmer. Or maybe it's just about taking that warm feeling and putting it into my everyday existence. That's the plan for now, anyway.
Posts
