We be back, although after two weeks in Florida and the Caribbean it was a bit of a shock to the body to walk out into 55 degrees and drizzle wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
I planned to catch up on the blogs and news and provide various links to things I’ve missed, as well as some reviews of books read on the trip. Suffice it to say that returning to 14 days of the local daily, seven magazines and six (yes, six) new books to review has and will consume my free time. That free time will become even more limited upon return to the office. Although I checked work-related e-mails occasionally, who knows what all is sitting on my desk? My guess is the balance of the week will be spent deciding which fire to put out next.
Now I remember why I avoided vacations the last couple years — you wonder if the non-monetary price you pay before and after is worth it. Still, two weeks with my family, including a week on a cruise that saw waves no larger than about four feet (where tropical storm Alberto is now afoot) and took us places we have never been is, as they say, priceless.
This is simply a long way of saying posting will remain sporadic as I try to catch up with returning to the real world. I must also say, though, that this morning’s gorgeous weather and blue skies reminds me of what keeps me here, despite the beauty of tropical islands and ports. My thoughts may be entirely different if this were January or February.
Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the blues sky, is by no means a waste of time.
John Lubbock, The Use of Life
