A Holiday Any Day!
I didn’t make it to the island this Memorial Day weekend, and I didn’t even miss it. No, this year I was pet sitting at the ‘palace’ with my favorite golden retrievers. I typically spend the holiday on Oak Island with my college buddies, but I missed our annual reunion as well, knowing I was right where I needed to be. Like most things, a holiday is a mindset and I had mine at my home away from home with a few of my favorite friends.
I hear the beach was bustling with tons of tourists kicking off the summer season. I definitely don’t miss that part; tourist season is just one of the minor inconveniences of living on an island. Some months are better than others of course, especially considering my rotating neighbors for three months straight. But I enjoy solitude for the other three quarters of the year, while everyone else dreams of doing what I do every day.
My friend warned me years ago that living on the island is a bit of a double edged sword; no longer a getaway where troubles reside on the opposite side of the bridge, but a lifestyle where everything is right there with you. While it looks like everyone else is on vacation, we have our work, chores, mail, and daily to dos. Rather than rolling out of bed and camping on the beach with a cooler all day, I am taking care of business, but living on island time.
As others lounge leisurely on the beach I am walking, wondering, sometimes worrying about what comes next. I don’t often immerse myself in that extended excursion from reality, but as an independent entrepreneur, it goes with the territory. But working with a water view, taking breaks on the beach and swimming six month of the year are well worth the tradeoff.
Some folks take a few days to slip into vacation mode, so by the time they get totally relaxed its time to return to reality. I definitely don’t have that challenge. And while I still travel to the mainland many times monthly, just seeing the swing bridge is all it takes to bring me back to Island time.
Of course I have learned to work on the beach as well. Writing is much more fun on a legal pad in a beach chair than on a computer and walking and talking a speech is premier preparation. But distractions abound; like sunshine and blue skies, rolling waves and water, the cooler, the magazines, and of course the back of my eyelids.
Any day can be a holiday, where ever you are. Life is what you make it and is mandated by your mindset. So why not make your day a holiday, what have you got to lose?
