Sunday Coffee Cup – Tropical Reminder

I love the tropics. Give me 90 degree heat and 70% humidity, clear skies, crystal waters to relax in and I’m good – for a very long time. Lucky for my wife, she understands this and when we talk about vacations, the options never include heading north unless it is the peak of summer – and even then – I need a very good reason to not head to an island.

I love places like these: Bermuda, The Virgin Islands, Cozumel Mexico, The Bahamas, The Florida Keys, South Florida and in a pinch, I’ll even settle for the Carolina coast. Today’s Sunday Coffee Cup is for when I’m not at any of those places.

My mother gave us four mugs and matching saucers set for Christmas one year. They’re tropical. They make me smile and remind me of hot sun and bright sand. It isn’t anywhere near like being there, but it serves up a sizable cup of coffee and the occasion to remember and plan for tropical trips...like these.

Bermuda - Marley Beach

Bermuda

Bermuda - Witch's Island

Bermuda

Maho Bay Camps - US Virgin Islands

Cozumel 1976

Ahhhhh.... i remember them all!

Myrtle Beach Ahhhhh!

I was here Thursday and it was 75 degrees and clear!

The Social South - Murrells Inlet, SC

I grew up in South Carolina and lived in the small community of Murrells Inlet during my high school years. I loved it. We often refer to the place as "a quiet little drinking village with a fishing problem."

So, I'm headed 'home' this week to spend Thanksgiving among the Spanish moss, live oaks trees and gazing at the inlet waters as they calmly ripple and cast a dark reflection back at me. There is a certain aroma smell to Murrells Inlet - a thick mix of mud, shell fish and salt water that sticks in the back of your throat - embedded with memories.

My mother and step-father's home is one of those Thanksgiving destination places. Every walk and flavor of family life will descend on them this week. We will eat, talk, eat, laugh, eat, eat and sit lifelessly in front of the TV while planning our next trip to "The Walmarts." It will be a traditional taste of all things South.

How about you? Thanksgiving plan? Traveling?

Wanted: MORE BUMS

As I strive for self actualization

Demanding more of my mind, spirit and body each day

Determined to succeed, to claim yesterday’s distant horizon

As today’s dawn

It occurs to me that I might have it all wrong

What if these images of status and position

That haunt my mind each evening are self contrived

And the resistance that pushes me backward

Each hard fought day is prophetic

What if my truth is that

This world simply needs another bum?

In The Sand*

In the sand

Our foot prints

Hearts

Shells

Kisses

Lines left by the tide

Castles

Dog paws

Cans

Bodies

Tears

Clothes

Dreams

Names

Our Life time

In the sand

*I grew up at the beach. I spent a great deal of time day and night, wandering the shores, feeling and exploring the sands of that shore and all that could be lived and love. There isn't much I haven't done on those shores. There is a lot of life lived, left and found there...