I’M ON VACATION

I am at the beach with my family—our annual get-together. We found a new rental house, one with enough space for the grandkids to enjoy time away from the adults. Need I mention the adults enjoy this situation, too? We are thinking about renting this house next year.

As I type, the sound of the ocean competes with chattering from the birds. This idealistic scene is so unlike what my husband and I left behind in our new community. We are the second wave of about fifteen residents to move into the future eighty-three-townhouse neighborhood. The remaining homes are in various stages of completion. Recently, the most active construction surrounded and bombarded us daily with noise. Cement trucks blocked access to the street and the roads were covered in mud from multiple plantings of trees and shrubs.

Here I feel tranquil. The deck where I am sitting is sheltered from the sun and cooled by a gentle breeze. I can hear my grandkids laughing down by the water. It’s time to put away the computer and slip on my bathing suit and join them. After all, I’m on vacation.