A Moment to Drool Over

My memories are inside me - they're not things or a place - I can take them anywhere.

Olivia Newton-John

To all my faithful readers--and I know there at least two of you--I haven't forgotten my entries. As many of you know, I am spending a month in Spain. As life and luck would have it, my blog entry page comes up in Spanish on the computer I am using while visiting this beautiful country. (My entry comes out in English, but all the commands are in Spanish, so it's presented quite a problemo!) Couple that with the fact that the keyboard is somewhat different and I'm making no promises as to what you'll get! Anyway, thanks to my honey and his ever-present Spanish dictionary, I've been able to (finally) get to my entry page!

And so here I am--in sunny Spain. What a magical country! Today I had one of those moments--you know the kind. The ones you know you'll recall many, many years from now as being part of "the good old days". Or, as my friend, Bob, puts it, "those memories that put a smile on your face when you're sitting and drooling in the old folks home". (That Bobby does have a way with words, no?). Anyway, it's rare that we realize these experiences as such when we are in the moment of having them. Oh sure, there are some that you know in the certainty of your soul when they happen that they are etched into your memory forever--your wedding day, the birth of your child, your first shoe-shopping experience at DSW. But then there are the seemingly ordinary moments that in hindsight become cherished remembrances.

The one that happened tome today was as I was sitting on a bluff overlooking the Mediterranean. It is windy and sunny-warm here today and the waves were crashing on the rocks below me. Outstretched in front of me was the sea for as far as I could see. Although they tell me that Africa is a scant 60 miles away, the curve of the planet doesn't allow me to behold that wonder. All I see is vast blue-green waters sparkling under sunshine and peaked with whitecaps. I bask in the beauty of the sunshine and realize one of those moments of pure joy. My brides and grooms are being well-tended by my capable staff back in the states. Any bills that aren't paid can wait until I get home. I can feel the sun shining on my face and I am secure in the knowledge that the SPF 30 sunscreen I applied before leaving the house this morning will protect me for another few hours. My children are happy and healthy. And up the hill, in the quaint village of Maro, the man that I love more than anyone in the world (and he appears to reciprocate that sentiment, which is always a plus) is happily snapping photos of some ancient castle ruins, which he had moments earlier excitedly beheld with the enthusiastic comment of "Wow...look at the cool old broken-down stuff!".

Later on, I know, we will meet up for our end of the afternoon cocktail (called "tapas" here) and laugh ourselves silly at some story or another. And I am in Spain!!! Wowza! Maybe many folks wouldn't consider that an extraordinary moment, but I knew for me, it was and I tried to etch it into my mind firmly, for I wanted to remember every nuance--the glorious feeling of having to be nowhere in no hurry; the knowledge that right then--for that brief moment in time--there was nowhere else on the earth I wanted (or needed) to be. To top it all off, I wasn't hungry, thirsty, needing to use the bathroom or over- or under-dressed. A "smiling while I drool in the home" memory for sure!

One thing I will do when I return home to my "every day" life is be sure to be on the lookout for these moments. I know they're there--I just get so involved in the mechanics of daily life that I forget to notice them. I think that's what vacations and travel help us to do--to notice the ordinary, to revel in the joys, to miss those back home. And oh yes--to treasure what we already have--like internet sites in our native language!