Morning Thoughts from Gulf Shores on Day 33 of 101

This morning I woke up gently. Not hurriedly or rushed or panicked. I was not in a frenzy. There was no feeling of urgency or sense of the amount of time I'd be allotted to drink my coffee and become fully alert and oriented (X4: to time, place, person, and situation). I crawled out of bed rather than jumping up and rushing to the bathroom. I leisurely poured a cup of coffee and doctored it up with sugar and French vanilla creamer before walking out to the balcony and having my morning wake-up to the sunrise and a couple of fags. This really is the way to rise, and it would most certainly be nice to wake up like this every day.

Either yesterday or the day before, Stephen mentioned that the most focused and structured he'd ever felt was during a period of unemployment when he rose and showered and adhered to the same strict schedule every day. He'd have breakfast with Stacy, watch Dexter, then spend the remainder of his day working on a screenplay. Stephen's estimation of his fondness for the routine was that he was actually doing something that he wanted to do, something that made him happy and gave him purpose.

I wonder how many of us can say that we're doing exactly what we want to do every day, that thing that gives us purpose and makes us happy, something that has us adhering to a daily schedule not because we have to but because we want to. Too many of us are driven by the necessary evil of money, that thing that makes the world go 'round and pushes us to the five or six or seven day work week wherein we are slaves to a system that makes one or two people at the tip of the pyramid very well off (most likely, he or she, whoever they may be is doing exactly what he or she wants) and those rising at any level below tired and bored and generally unenthusiastic towards life.

No, I'm not about to quit everything, chuck it all, and move to Tahiti, but this current section of my blog is all about doing those things that make me happy and drive me toward purpose: writing, reading, volunteering, exercising, being healthy, helping other people. Maybe this is something I ought to look at a little more closely. Am I really doing anything that's getting me anywhere or am I just going through one series of motion after the other in order to get from point A to point B and fulfill expectations? And, if so, is this what God or Buddha or the Old Ones or the great Higher Power above really wants from me? I doubt I was given life and urged to live it to the fullest only to walk slowly, certainly to a generally unfulfilled end.

While I ponder that, enjoy a few more photos from the first thirty-six hours of the trip...

My vow is to be sure that the subsequent pictures I post are in the correct order. this is Danny after we arrived yesterday. He improvised the chair he created in the sand.

With Stacy.

I have another pair of shades, but I dig these. I got them two for nine dollars.

Stacy and Stephen yesterday, shortly after our arrival.

Danny out in the water.

This is one of the walks we use from our condo to the beach. There's an alternate path that Rhonda and I took last night through the dunes.

On our balcony last night.

The view from the balcony yesterday afternoon.

Rhonda is currently busy making her taco soup and she asked if I beat her as far as taking pictures on our excursions. Although I can definitively write that I do not, she also mentioned that she's never in any of those that she takes and posts. Therefore, here's a shot I took of myself in the backseat yesterday morning. This is somewhere still in north Louisiana. We left at five AM and arrived in Gulf Shores shortly after two.

As a nod to the vacation days of my youth, I purchased a stack of novels from Christopher Pike to devour while I'm here. Some I remember reading, some I don't, some I haven't. I remember Chain Letter, I think it was the second of his titles that I read about seventeen or eighteen years ago...maybe longer?!?!?!?

From Stephen and Stacy's guest room Wednesday night after supper.

I ALWAYS check closets and behind shower curtains in a new place. I opened the closet in the guess room on Wednesday night and this small wonder of horror was there.

Pay close attention to the details, especially the hair... what, oh what the hell is that hair?!?!?!

A shot of the very impressive library at Stephen and Stacy's.

With Mom. Before leaving on Wednesday night.

Mary Louise and Tyler on Tuesday night.

Mary Louise was sweet, until she realized that I was packing to leave for a few days. Then, she was pissed and did her best to get into my suitcase and hide herself beneath the clothes, as if I'd not notice she was there and she'd be able to proudly announce herself as a stowaway upon my arrival at the destination.

This was the suitcase on Wednesday afternoon before I left.

The stack of stuff, minus the suitcase shown above.

Danny again. Although he appears to be buried to his midsection, he's actually comfortably nestled in his self-made sand chair.

For some reason, Stacy likes taking pictures of my ass... even while it's approaching maximum density.

Yesterday afternoon's photo from the view on the beach. We need to hurry to get out there and stake our claim on the lay of the land.

Again, this is what we're headed back out to shortly.

This is what I really ought to be doing today. It took only moments yesterday, but we have considerably more to get out and up today. Now is the time for me to leave the blog for now. Be back again later.