Birthday Trip

An early December birthday is, well, usually pretty crummy.  It typically falls in the week following Thanksgiving.  We are still too full of turkey, dressing, etc to even want to think about another party.  With cake.  As a youth Mom would make me an angel food cake and that was about it.  One year my life long BFF spent the night.  Exciting stuff, right?  I decided this year would be different.  A trip to the coast was going to do it! Two nights on the Gulf Coast in December should work.  This decision took place in early October.

Before my aunt passed and before I realized I needed to take my mom to a wedding in Dallas in mid October.  A few weeks before the three day camp trip followed by a week of bronchitis.  Still coughing I headed back to Dallas for a classmate's annual holiday gathering.  Helped my Sis decorate her house.  Came home and began preparing for Thanksgiving football and all the food the next day.  No way could we have expected Mom to lose her eyesight that day.  Weird, unheard of problem called giant cell arteritis.  Four days before we were to leave on The Birthday Trip.  Sis convinced me to go keep my appointment with my birthday celebration trip.

I gotta say that by the middle of November I had already begun to search to see if I could reschedule until in say -- February.  Nope.  On Tuesday, December 2, we set off in our CMax hybrid for the warm beaches of South Padre Island.  We never arrived at the warm beaches.  We did arrive to 46 degree, rainy, windy South Padre Island.  Our hotel was roughly 100 yards from ocean edge but on Dec. 3 when we looked out of our third story balcony, there was mostly fog.  There was the sound of the ocean to reassure me that we were indeed at the beach.

After a breakfast overlooking the foggy beach we ventured out onto the beach.  It was beautiful.  The surf and shorebirds played tag as we watched.  Flocks of gulls mimicked the waves in an undulating dance in the air.  Winter Texans, folks living in the area during winter months, were exercising on the beach.  My hubby snapped photos of birds for me.  I had left the new camera in the room.  He gave me time to just enjoy the smell, the breeze, the feeling of walking on packed sand ......the joy of the moment.

Those minutes on the beach were worth the longer than expected drive.  Those moments were worth the guilt feelings for not going to care for my mom.  All those years with no celebrations.  I would be 68 years old the next day.  I was with the man I love.  We would go on to spend several hours exploring the island, the bird center, enjoying fresh seafood and fine wine.  Tons of photos were taken and are are yet to be processed.  That means now I will get to slow down long enough to relive the beauty of that trip.  My first ever Birthday Trip.  And, may I add, my last.  Too close to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

childhood dreams-

cakes, angels and fire

Happy Trails!

©  Janice Adcock

Carpe Diem Ghost Writer #40 "Kikobun" by Hamish Managua Gunn

Thanks to Chèvrefeuille for daily prompts on 

CARPE DIEM HAIKU KAI