I love the quote by Maya Angelou that reads, “This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.” Today was a such a wonderful day at the beach. The ocean was angry with waves and Old Man Wind was huffing and puffing wind and sand but my dearest friend and me and my niece were not intimidated. We drug our chairs down to the beach and enjoyed the magic of the majestic raging ocean, rolling his large waves to shore making love to the sandy beach. The far distance calm waters were kissed by the sun’s rays, peeking through a small whole in the thin cigar smoke clouds overhead. The sky was a watercolor palette of silvers and grays and purples and blues as we sat watching the clouds gather and roll across the horizon, dropping rain from their full bellies. The only birds were platoons of large pelicans patrolling the heavens between wind gusts.

Nivaz Ahemad writes, “What’s your favorite place?” “I don’t have a favorite place, I have my favorite people. And, whenever I’m with my favorite people, it becomes by favorite place.” I’m with my favorite people on this trip and two more favorite people visited us today. My cousin and her handsome curly haired son drove up from Winter Garden and treated us to a scrumptious meal. After we stuffed ourselves on delicious seafood and key lime pie we came back to the condo and regaled each other with family stories and memories. I have never had such a wonderful afternoon. We laughed ourselves silly.

Before our company came we ran out of toilet paper. I had the bright idea to snitch the toilet paper from my cousin’s condo here. She had given us her door code just in case we needed something. So oldest sister-in-law, dearest friend, and I snuck up her outside stairway, quickly opened the door and snatched two rolls of toilet paper, a roll of paper towels, and a box of Kleenex. Dearest friend slept cold last night so we grabbed a blanket for her, too, on the way out.

On the way back to our condo, the toilet paper fell out of the bag. The wind was blowing like the cyclone winds from Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz and blew those rolls of toilet paper all over the parking lot. I’m still “cricked up” up from my fall so I couldn’t help chase the toilet paper but I was hollering, “Catch the toilet paper! Catch the toilet paper!” Oldest sister-in-law was yelling, “I never rolled a yard in high school but this must be what it’s like.” We wrestled the toilet paper back in the sack, praying no one had seen two old fools and a cripple chasing toilet paper rolls in the parking lot. We ran around so in that gale force wind and blowing sand, we looked like death eating a cracker when we got back to our condo.

We’re eating the last of the key lime pie now, and saying goodbye to this beautiful piece of Floridian paradise. This is a quote for my niece who has been so kind to chaperone us — “A road trip is a way for the whole family to spend time together and annoy each other in interesting new places,” Tom Lichtenheld.

“Take only memories, leave only footprints.” —Chief Seattle