august already

It's August already.  Summer's nearly over and I've lived through it like a gypsy.  From Apalachicola to the Carolina mountains, the sweet Georgia countryside to Myrtle Beach.  Nashville in between here and there then my gypsy feet landed on an island in Mexico. For the sake of fresh thoughts, the spirit of "the right now" and for times sake, I sure wish I would have slapped down a few words about them all.  

But before I blog away about these rockin trips and great experiences I must say that I am so humbled and glad that my gypsy summer ended in a third world country.  Sure it's a destination and we were there for vacation, a wedding celebration and we stayed at the only five star hotel on the island. It was beautiful, perfect, relaxing and unforgettable. But in a way I have never experienced before, in any of my travels, I was immersed in their culture, in the poverty and the simple life they embrace. As I left that seven mile stretch in the middle of the Caribbean Sean....filled with the most raw beauty, significant poverty and rich culture....I left not sad for the natives of Isla Mujeres, sad for what they didn't have and would probably never have, but sad for me. For us.

Sad that I honestly will struggle to find the happiness through simplicity that I watched as two girls sat giggling on the front door stoop of their 200 square foot home as they tried to thread the longest strand of coke can tabs their minds could imagine.  Sad that I won't find the joy, thrill and relief watching my favorite guy walk through the door after a long day as a deck hand beaming with the giant fish that was given to him as part of his tip from the tourists who chartered his captain's boat that day.  Sad that the simplicity of a fish and coke tabs won't make my heart leap. I sound a bit pathetic and I know it is quite unrealistic to pare my life down to the simplicity I witnessed, but I do hope that fish and coke tabs will consume my mind the next time I have a melt down about plans that didn't go "my way" and before another wardrobe trauma.

Summer officially doesn't end for a few more weeks, so for the next nineteen days I'm gonna keep chasing that tail end of the season. We've got to get back on our boats, spend time with our friends, give our front porch some attention and work hard because I love it. 

Hang on sweet summer, my gypsy strings are loosening, but not letting go just yet.