Day Dreams of a Mind Traveler

I fell asleep that night with the balcony door open, allowing the crashing waves to be my lullaby. That is the most peaceful sleep I’ve had in a long time. (considering buying one of those nature CDs to play at night. yeah not so much. LOL). As I snuggled my comforter, I dreamt. Dreams of the old couple and me turning into them. Snapshots of playing in the sand, and feelings of contentment paraded through my dreams.

The next morning, I awoke around 7 am. I sat up in bed and smiled. The sun was playing peek-a-boo with passing clouds and I popped right out of bed. Nothing like a peaceful night’s rest to jumpstart my day. Careful not to wake my sisters, I grabbed a swimsuit out of my suitcase, washed and brushed the essentials, shimmied into said suit, scribbled a note, and bounced. I headed down to the lower level to go sit on the beach. I’ve always wanted to just sit by on the beach as morning yawns and stretches to begin its day.

On my way to the beach I walked by the outdoor café of the restaurant. Other early risers were already munching on muffins, and waffles and omelets (Oh my!). In my haste to get to the beach I dropped my always present notebook, and everything else in my hands. (Why was I walking around with my cell phone in hand and not in bag, I’ll never know).

“I got it! I got it!”

I swear she had to be no more than 4. She ran over from her table and squatted down to help me gather my stuff with one hand, while she held firmly onto her croissant. I looked up for a parent before somebody tried to have me arrested for kidnapping this adorable lil one. I made eye contact with a woman about my age and got the universal “its okay - I won’t have you arrested” head nod and hand wave.

“Aww thank you sweetheart! You are so helpful.” (I have a habit of calling all kids sweetheart if they’re not misbehaving)

“I know. I saw you yesterday.” She informed me as we scoop everything back into my bag. (SIDEBAR: I keep way too much change at the bottom of every bag)

“You did?? Are you sure?”

“Uh-huh. Your hair is like minez. I remember.”

With her spirally curls all over the place (hers were way cuter than minez), I could kind of see where she got that from.

“Wow. You have a lot of monies.”

“Well, for being so helpful, lets ask your mom if you can have some of this monies.”

Wide eyed, she said “Really?” like I just promised to take her to Disney World after breakfast.

As she grabbed my hand to walk me over to her mom, I couldn’t help but think: We look like mother and daughter. With her untamed hair and massively big expressive eyes, it was like looking at myself about 30 years ago. For the entire 10 steps to her mother's table, she chatted me up the entire way, talking a mile a minute. Yeah, she could definitely be mine. LOL

After chatting with her mom for a minute, and paying the lil one her reward for being so helpful, I continued my solitary journey down to the beach. As I sat there writing the above exchange, I listened intently to the music of the ocean. I can’t help it. I was awe-struck at how much that lil girl looked like me. I have pages and pages on what it means or doesn’t mean in my notebook. I wrote and wrote and wrote. Just poured it all out on paper. And then I stopped. I took it all in. The scenery. The sounds. The emotions. Then I opened my notebook and wrote a simple phrase on a blank page before snapping it shut.

“You’re ready.”

And I let my mind travel on that for the rest of my trip.

Butterfly note: by the time many of you read this (i've seen the stats, more morning hits...LOL), I will be en route for my second vacation in as many weeks. This time, I'm heading West to Vegas. My first trip there. I'm sure I'll have lots to tell. Not sure if I'll have permission to tell it though. LOL

Smoochies