Tuesday, July 03, 2007

mostly back from vacation

Just got back into town last night from a week-plus trip to Myrtle Beach with my room-mate and his extended family. A few highlights:

1. On the drive down there, we passed through the Polymer Alliance Corridor. Which was fitting since I work at a university known for polymers.

2. While driving, I nearly got attacked by what I'm guessing was a hawk or an eagle - or maybe a pterodactyl. It swooped in front of my car on its way to someplace else and I recall saying some very bad words.

3. Spent a lot of time at the beach - and SPF 50 was my new friend. No major burns to report - which is a nice change of pace.

4. The first day we were there, we went out onto the fishing pier and saw a guy throwing fish scraps into the water - where the 1/2 dozen 5 foot-plus sharks were waiting eagerly. Not sure what kind of sharks they were, but they were pretty cool. And they were only about 50 feet away from the swimmers in the ocean. I didn't swim anywhere near the pier.

5. Speaking of swimming - I tried to get some distance in while swimming in the ocean. The waves made progress very difficult - but I think the buoyancy made it easy for me to try the butterfly stroke again - did okay with that one.

6. I got mistaken for an author by someone who saw me reading and remembered me from last year when I did a lot of writing. She illogically thought I was reading my own book - I had to explain that I wrote a web-comic last year and that I was reading just for fun. A little odd but kinda cool.

7. We went out for dinner one night and waited 2.5 hours. If I had been on my own, I would have bailed out and gone to Chic-fillet, but it wasn't an option.

8. I brought back some sand with me - on purpose. There is a quote by William Blake (that also showed up in the Tomb Raider movie) that goes like this:

"To see your world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower. To hold infinity in the palm of your hand, An eternity in an hour."

So, I want to take a grain of sand and encase it in lucite or something clear. Just in case I want to check out the world.

9. The Myrtle Beach - being more "family oriented" - tends to shut down pretty early in the evening. So, very late one night, I snuck out to the beach, found myself a deserted strech of sand (not difficult to do) and "dropped trou". I prompted walked out into the ocean and swam around for a bit. It was cold and I was mindful of the dangers of rip tides and beasties in the water so I didn't stay out long. When I walked out of the water, still in the all-together, I felt like some kind of minor sea-god. Felt like something ancient and powerful. I found my swimsuit again and got dressed before heading back to the lights and people. Just for a moment though - the ocean was mine and mine alone.

10. After about a week on Myrtle Beach, we headed to Ocean Isle, NC for a bit more beach and sunshine. Lot more shells on this beach and the place we stayed was really top-notch. Still, despite the grueling drive home, it is good to be back in Ohio.

I'm off today and tomorrow as well for the 4th of July - back on Thursday and Friday to finish out the week. I've been trying to go through my emails and I'm starting the process of getting caught up.

Guess that's about it for now. later...

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