Behold, fair reader, a new me. Well, maybe not a new me, but certainly a refreshed and revitalized Danielle. My husband Doo and I are just back from a spring break vacation in Florida, and though I drove 35 of the god-awful 38 hours and suffered a fever blister and migraine on our first day, I have returned rested and, dare I say, happy?
I’ve always known the health benefits of sunshine and being near water, particularly the ocean, but in a year like no other after the cold and gray of winter, I hadn’t really appreciated how much I needed a sandy beach and near-80-degree temperatures. And obviously, enjoying a few rum punches and fried grouper sandwiches on said beach didn’t hurt, either. But mainly, to have downtime in a tropical warm place was enough to reset my mental state from one of “Dangerous: Stress Levels Too High” to “Excellent: No Worries.”
To park our car at the beginning of the week and not get in it again until we were leaving; to not open my laptop once; to go to sleep at 8 p.m., wake up at 7 a.m. and then perhaps take an afternoon nap; to finish three YA novels that should definitely not be considered young adult (Sarah J. Maas, well done!); to simply hang with Doo and talk about our kids, our future, his crazy plan to buy a 44-foot trawler; to ride bikes and eat coconut ice cream and cattily judge people in their swim attire … this trip was exactly what I needed it to be.
Here’s hoping that you, too, have experienced some spring renewal.
Peace out.