Mother's Day at the Beach

I heard from all my children, still children in my mind despite their mature ages, early in the day.  I called my own mother, age 82, and she was already out with my cousin but I had a delightful conversation with my Dad!  He was home fielding all the "mother's day" calls.  I puttered around in the house and noticed the floral delivery van going up and down our road 8 times before I set out to walk the dog.


So, all that being done, and being on my own for the day, I decided to take the dog for a walk on the beach.  Such a privilege to have the beach accessible on a daily basis.  I packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a thermos of tea, my sketching kit, and off I went with the dog.  We walked a good long way until I decided on the picnic table I would rest at with my sandwich and tea. 

It was a beautiful sunny day.   I passed evidence of other peoples' exuberance, in the photograph above, and was such a delight to be able to spend my time in this way.  Tuffy and I sat at a table, munched on our snacks, sipped on our tea, and sketched in my journal.  I'm not a dedicated journal keeper, but this particular day it was a pleasure.  Here's a photo of my inspiration.... not anything at the beach, but something that has struck my heart with it's simple beauty.  They are "Pink Fawn Lilies"
and there's a huge patch of them behind our fence, growing wild, as well as a bunch of them scattered along the trail I walk with the dog in the morning.  Here's more information on them:  http://www.sierraclub.bc.ca/education/ecomap/georgia_depression/2pflilly.html

When I got home I sent an email to my three sons telling them how lucky they were.  I had seen the floral delivery van going up and down our road about 8 times before I went out with the dog.  My youngest son replied that he couldn't afford it this year, but that he would like to take me on a vacation for Mother's Day some time soon.  Nice.....let's make it tropical with a swim-up bar!  Number Two son said he had weeded the flower bed in his front yard and thanked me for the incentive to get that done!  Number One son cracked me up.  His response was "Are you guys under surveillance?  If I saw a floral delivery van going up and down my road 8 times, the last thing I would be thinking of would be mothers!"  Now that made me laugh!