I’m blessed to be spending some time away in the Outer Banks, NC. It’s been a long year, and I’m long overdue for a break. I’ve been here several times before and until today, I’ve never step foot on a North Carolina beach, I’ve never been south of Nags Head, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never fully embraced the OBX experience. As is my style, I’ve never taken the time to slow down and just enjoy the experience. Well, today, I slowed down and embraced my inner child. Some rather interesting things evolved from this…
My morning began listening to a message on the web…it is Sunday, and while I wasn’t home worshipping at my church, it was not my intent to dismiss God today. From there, I joined B on the beach early this morning. The air was beautifully mild, but the water was cold. It reminded me of a song of my youth, “Stepped in the water and the water was cold…chilled my body, but not my soul”. I digress a bit… Despite the water temperature, it was really fun walking on the beach and letting the ocean water touch my feet. We then took a spontaneous road trip to Rodanthe, NC. Many years ago, I watched a movie based on Nicholas Sparks’ book, Nights in Rodanthe. I watched this movie at a pivotal moment in my life, a time where I was intentional in spending alone time with me. One of my very first alone moments during that season was a trip to the theater to see this movie. Truthfully, I had forgotten all about that until this evening when we got back to the house. The road trip was great…before seeing the actual house where the movie was filmed, the Inn at Rodanthe, we rode through Pea Island, a place I had never heard of, and stopped in a small park to watch several individuals windsurfing! It looked like tons of fun, but I’m certain it may be a bit too adventurous for me. Maybe I’ll live life on the edge one day…
Pea Island was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!! In this park, there are 300 different species of birds that inhabit the region at any given time. There were the normal sea gulls flying through the air, but we also observed a mother goose and her goslings. And, the dunes were amazing! I’ll be going back tomorrow to take some sunset pictures (if it be the Lord’s will). When we returned back to the house, I truly returned to my childhood. B and I picked up kites while we were out today…I, of course, was the cheap one and got a $2.99 plastic Finding Nemo kite. It did really well until the tail got caught around the kite!!!!! B, on the other hand, got the deluxe nylon kite that was at least twice the size of mine. Initially, we were having some trouble getting it up, but once it finally started catching the wind nicely, we were able to fly his kite for a long time. It was a great time, it was good for the soul!
You know, this week could be very overwhelming for me. We’re here with several of B’s family and friends. There are way too many people for my introverted soul (it’s like 30 people in this huge house), but I decided to be intentional about living fully this week. I’m intentional about relaxing and just having a good time. I think I’m off to a great start, and I think the week is only going to get better. I’m hoping to post some pictures in the coming days, and perhaps will do some more writing.
Until next time…
The Lens View 