You ever take a vacation, come home and think, It’s just not worth it? You’re out there getting all rested up, having a great time with your husband, eating good food, joking around. Then you get home, and wham! Zero to 60: doing laundry, returning emails, menu planning, grocery shopping and trying to resuscitate the hanging plant outside the front door. Oh, and apparently the power went out while you were gone, and all the clocks need to be reset. Phew!
That’s what happened to me this weekend when Charlie and me got back from our little vacation. We took a leisurely drive up the coast, junktiquing and eating lobster rolls, fried clams and onion rings. We slept in and had breakfast out. (We’re talking bacon every day, folks. It doesn’t get much better than that.) Oh, and one night we found a good bean supper in Rockland. Pecan maple squares for dessert.
We didn’t have a game plan or nothing. We stayed at little motels along the way. Charlie wanted to go on a whale watch off Bar Harbor, so we did that. Even saw a whale or two. Well, Charlie did. I was too busy gabbin’. Then we ate popovers at Jordon Pond House with strawberry jam. Yum! Basically, we did what we wanted, when we wanted. No stress. Just getting out of Dodge and enjoying each others company.
‘Cause the thing is, I always know I love Charlie, but on vacation, I remember how much I like him. We have long conversations, driving around. Or we sit, staring at the ocean, shoulders touching, not saying a word. We eat funky food combinations, and pay for it later! We laugh a lot. I look at Charlie and think, this is why I married the guy. Plus, vacation always makes him a little frisky, which is fine by me.
Then we get home late morning Saturday, and within minutes we’re back to our routine, like we never left. Only we did leave, and have all this catching up to do. Plus, I have to make a dish for the Knights of Columbus picnic on Sunday. And Charlie is hell bent on mowing the lawn, even though it’s 90 degrees and humid as all get out, because “it needs to be done.”
And that night, after Charlie finishes weed whacking and I’ve put the laundry away, we’re back to business as usual: sitting there in our Barcalounger love seat, staring at the tube, exhausted.
During a commercial, I turn to him and say, “Where’s that fun guy I was hanging out with on vacation?”
Charlie puts his hand on mine and goes, “He’s with the fun gal I was hanging out with.”
That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!
IDA’S PODCAST: Vacation Frustration
Coming Up This Week
August 4: Book Reading: The Sweet Life, Albert Church Brown Memorial Library, http://www.acbrown.lib.me.us/ 7:00pm, China, ME
August 5: Book Reading: The Sweet Life, Stockton Springs Community Library, http://www.stocktonspringslibrary.org/, 6:00pm, Stockton Springs ME
Upcoming Book Events and Performances
August 11: The View From He’ah Variety Show with special guest singer/songwriter Anni Clark, http://actonenh.org/ 2:00 & 7:30pm, Portsmouth, NH
August 30: Book Reading: The Sweet Life, Rangeley Public Library, http://www.rangeleylibrary.com/default.asp?Key=1&Cat=1 6:00pm, Rangeley, ME
September 8: A Visit With Ida, Active, Alive and Over 55 Club Luncheon, 1:00pm, Rye, NH
September 19: A Visit With Ida, Westbrook Seniors at Westbrook Community Center, 1:00pm, Westbrook, ME
September 23 & 24: The View From He’ah Variety Show with special guest international storyteller Antonio Rocha, http://actonenh.org/ Friday at 7:30pm, Saturday 2:00 & 7:30pm, Portsmouth, NH