A Pawley's Island Breather

I've just experienced a great reversal of the creation story in Genesis--6 straight days of rest with virtually no work accomplished at all! It was grand--indeed, rest is good for the soul--and it helps if you throw in an ocean and some beach and about six days of nothing but an NCAA basketball tournament and a couple of good books and some Scrabble.

We just spent a week at Pawley's Island on the coast of South Carolina. My wife and her family have been going there for at least a week every year for something like 50 years. I have to admit that the experience is hard to beat. We rented one of those old Pawley's Island houses right on the ocean and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Here's my top ten for the week!

10. That morning cup of coffee walking down the beach--and especially the last few cold swigs.

9. The New York Times read thoroughly with few interruptions--to the extent that you even get beyond the first section--and live for a moment with the illusion that you might finally finish the crossword puzzle.

8. A full moon directly outside your bedroom window and right over the ocean, with moonbeams playing off the waves.

7. Three cheap paperbacks with really good plots that are already forgotten.

8. A few hard-fought games of Scrabble and rummy.

7. Some great steamed oysters at Nance's in Murrell's Inlet.

6. An evening of shrimp and crab arond the dining room table.

5. Tossing the football around the beach while vainly compensating for the stiff breeze.

4. Turning "Out-of-office assistant" on knowing that it means you don't have to check email at all--for a week.

3. Louisville vs. Tennessee capped by a Louisville win.

2. Long bicycle rides from one end of the island to the other.

1. Good long talks that wouldn't happen otherwise and that are made special by the fact that it is the last Spring Break from high school that we will ever share with our children.

I wonder if the surf and sand don't grab something elemental deep within me. After all, God drew the lines between land and sea pretty early in the week and then he hung the sun and moon in the sky almost immediately thereafter. Perhaps this is why there is a certain peace that comes with standing on the beach with my toes in the water and the back of my feet on the sand while a full moon tugs gently at the water or a bright sun warms my face. Animals and people come along much later in the week--and they certainly complicate matters.

Oops--excuse me for a second! My cellphone is ringing.

It must be the seventh day.