THE "TIDES" OF OUR LIVES (April 2 - 15, 2019)

South Carolina Sunrise

As we watched our daughter's family drive out of the resort and head back to Indiana, we understood that for the next two weeks we would be by ourselves in our quiet place.  Edisto Island has been labeled as the Mayberry of beaches in the Carolinas and that's exactly why we like it!

These last 14 days we have enjoyed doing absolutely nothing and doing it quite well if I must say so myself.  It was hours of  walking the beach and trails.  It was hours of sitting in the sunshine and feeling the warmth of its' rays as they kissed your skin.  It was hours of.....well I am sure that you get the idea.

Now, I sit here at the dining room table and await the arrival of our next guests.  A High School friend of my wife and her husband come in this afternoon for their first "Edisto" experience.  Next week it will be Sherry's brother and sister in law who will be our guests for two weeks before our Island Time comes to an end.

REFLECTIONS

Life is always changing, like the tides.  Sometimes the tides are up and things are happening right and left. Life is beating our your shore and it is exhilarating.  Other times the tides are heading out and the emptying leaves behind so much.  It is a quieter time.

We have learned these last two plus years of retirement to ride the tides.  We thoroughly enjoy the high tides with friends and family.  These are the busy times; times of waiting to see what will be deposited in our lives.  They are wonderful times of discovery and fun.  These "high tides" are blessed times.

We, also, enjoy the "low tides" of retreating from the crashing of life.  They are times of renewal and
being able to listen to His still small voice.  They are needed times.

I know that our "transient" life style is different from almost everyone else, but I know that life, for all of us, has its' ebbs and flows.  The difference is that ocean tides are predictable and the tides of our lives are random.  The ups and downs can last for a long time or they can come and go in an instant.

The secret is to not allow them to overwhelm us; to drown us!  Learn to enjoy them both and to treasure whatever they bring.  In the ocean, the low tides bring more beach and deposit shell treasures to be discovered, while the high tides provide those treasures as they crash to the shore.

But here's the deal!  Without the low tides you'd never see the treasures hidden beneath the blue water.  There will be "low tides" in our lives and we must learn to use them to find the beauty underneath it all.  Be blessed in all the "tides of your life".

South Carolina Sunset

DOING LITTLE, MAKING BIG MEMORIES (March 23 - April 1 2019)

Edisto Island, South Carolina Sunset

 

Edisto Pelican

Edisto Island has become a spring stop for our nomadic life style.  The drive from Indiana to coastal Carolina was long and tiring but yet enjoyable as the 12 hour road trip was shared with my daughter and her family.  The first ten days of our seven week stay at WYNDHAM OCEAN RIDGE RESORT would be spent with her, her husband, and my two young granddaughters.

Edisto is one of those places that you either love or hate.  It is a slice of the South Carolina low country coast that time has passed by.

It has no national restaurant chains, unless you count the Subway in the Gas Station.  Good local family owned eateries dot the Island with wonderful sea food and BiLo meets your grocery needs.  

Entertainment?  Pretty much just make your own with beautiful beaches, biking/walking trails, playing mini golf.

If you are looking for the Myrtle Beach/Hilton Head experience it is not here.

Edisto Dolphins

REFLECTIONS

For me, the ten days with family was a great time of just enjoying life and one another.  Enjoying one another away from the busyness of life.  Enjoying the simpler things like; watching a dazzling sunset, playing mini-golf, riding bikes, playing table games, eating chocolate chip cookies, being awed by the dolphins in the bay beneath our deck, telling stories of events from long ago.  So many simple things that combine to make a wonderful tapestry to, itself, be remembered for years to come.

I believe that we all want to be remembered.  When this life's day comes to an end, we want to be remembered.  Therefore, my challenge, and yours, is to make sure that those closest to us have reason to recall times together.  We must, with purpose, take time to "make memories".  We must not be so wrapped up in everything else that we miss what is most important.  We must not be running the race of life so long and fast that we fail to touch the lives of those who we call family.  Find an Edisto somewhere.  A place where you can strip off all the complexities of your life and find peace.  Find a place where you can reconnect with those nearest to you.