Day 29: A Day at the Beach

Hannah and I decided yesterday that since we hadn't been to the beach in a while (except for the Friday thing with school) today after we watched Westwinds online, we'd have lunch and head out!


We were able to sleep in, thanks to earplugs we had the foresight to purchase (it helps that Stan and I have been here a couple of times already.) You see, this is Labor Day weekend in Puerto Rico, not just in the U.S., and the folks here, well, they seem to love any excuse to party! And they really like loud music, which travels well on the island. That being the case, we needed them to get to sleep, not just for the early-morning roosters that know when 4:30 a.m. rolls around.


Waking up refreshed, I made and enjoyed my Puerto Rican coffee and we Skyped with Stan for a few minutes. We had Westwinds all ready to go...they weren't airing today...again. I was SO bummed!!! We missed last week's sex talk and now this week's whatever; plus we missed seeing familiar faces in the seats (and Dave's charming face, too, of course).


We (rather, I) recovered from my disappointment and reconsidered our plan for the day. I worked for  a bit on some school work (that's a surprise, I know!) while Hannah busied herself making some crafts. Truthfully, I'm not crazy about it when she does that because it usually ends up being a very tense time getting her to put all the stuff back away. Be that as it may, we muddled along, had some lunch, and headed out to the beach.

As we were walking out to the car, Hannah noticed a hermit crab right on our walkway! I couldn't believe it. Remember, we're living in the nosebleed section of the island, so this guy had to travel a long way to get to us! Anyway, he was a good-sized critter, so it was fun to make a discovery before we even got to the car!

We headed out to Zoni and when we arrived there were quite a few cars, which we expected because of the holiday weekend. Walking to our typical meeting spot halfway down the beach, we met up with Abbie and one of her dogs, Boots. She was quietly reading a book and he was patiently waiting for her, wagging his tail at us as we approached. 


We visited for a while and antsy Hannah impatiently waited until we were ready to cool off in the the rather rough water. You see, although Katia (or however you spell it) is north of us, the effects of her winds are definitely felt here. The waters are much more rough than is typical and the tide is very high, even though it's not even close to a full moon. (I'm learning so much here, aren't I?)


We finally wandered out into the cool Caribbean waters and continued our visit, while Hannah played in the water around us. Suddenly, Abbie froze and announced she thought she had felt a jellyfish or ray, neither of which is particularly pleasant to run in to! After a minute or two she felt satisfied that everything was alright and we continued our conversation. It wasn't five minutes later and I stepped on something that was definitely NOT sand! Of course I bolted a bit. Although I attempted to disguise my fear and apprehension, Abbie could obviously see in my expression that I had run into something! She then advised me that up along the Gulf Coast they are warning swimmers to shuffle along because the rays are coming in so close to shore people are at risk of stepping on them and possibly being injured! Then she said, "Oh, it could have just been a flounder." 


Well, I decided to just float for a while. Then when I put my feet back down, I decided it would be best to shuffle...


My blood pressure finally dropped back to normal levels and we continued to enjoy our swim. We swam even after Abbie and Boots left us and then sat in our little beach chairs for a bit. I took a nice long quiet walk all the way to the end of the beach before we called it a day.


On our way home, we stopped to take a quick picture of the house where our apartment will be when we move at the end of October, too! We thought you'd like to see it! We're supposed to be in the upstairs where the nice arched balcony is! Isn't it pretty? It's also right across from the airport, so WHEN you come to visit, we'll have no trouble meeting you there! :) As a matter of fact, I took this picture from the airport driveway!



After getting cleaned up from our time at the beach, Hannah fixed us her "secret" recipe tacos. (Don't tell her I know this, but her secret is she adds black pepper to the meat.) It was delicious and we both had a second one. As often is the case after dinner, we played Bananagrams. She's going to be a champion speller by the time we get back home; we've also decided it's time to get a new (different) game. 


During the course of the day today, I cannot tell you how many times I thought of my friend whose daughter got married today. I know many of my closest friends were/are there and they made sure my hubby was with them. What great friends! It's been sad today to know I'm missing out on this important occasion, but I hope Annie knows I was thinking of her all day, along with her mom (my dear friend), dad, and very pregnant sister, praying for a very special day of wonderful memories to cherish forever.


So, God, thank you for this day. Thank You that You are all places at once. Somehow that lifted my spirits today, remembering that.