Outward Appearances

You might think, "Aw! Look at that happy family!"

You might just as easily gasp and exclaim, "WHERE ARE THEIR MASKS?! How could they put everyone else in danger like that!?" and get mad as hell.

Meanwhile... after trying to record our next little family video without success and a series of other frustrations, we needed a mental health break.

It had been our second or third day's attempt at recording the new song for a variety of reasons, some of which I have chosen to forget, including someone needing ice for a bumped head, the screeching of nonsense words instead of lyrics or pleasant sounds, phone storage running out of space and/or a toy piano crashing to the floor. You get the idea.

It was "one of those days" when nothing was going smoothly and everything turned into a drama. I had just finished cleaning up some kind of accidental mess with the vacuum when Zachary decided to play "leaf blower" with the vacuum hose, which was all well and good until he swung it down too hard and sent a plume of dirt and dust particles flying all over the living room and into his hair. Oh - and did I fail to mention this was after I had already given him an unexpected shower for some other sticky mess (under protest) that morning?

We really just had to leave the house before mommy lost it completely.

Dogs were let out, sunscreen was applied, camera and masks were grabbed, and we set off in search of some pretty flowers to take pictures of. The car steered itself toward the beach. I had no idea if it was even open.

It was, but without this year's parking pass, we parked almost a mile away and I still wasn't sure we would make it, or if we would encounter too many people along the way. Although prepared to turn around, we were able to walk along a grassy stretch without anyone coming close and once we made it to the beach, there were very few people, all sufficiently spread out. Zachary had a blast in the sand, making a fine mess to his heart's content, and I had a much needed detox and break. The water is so beautiful and calming.

It was the perfect reset button.

My point is that in times like these, we might choose to remember that things aren't always what they seem and we would do well to exercise a little patience with others. We never know what kind of day they're having - regardless of their smile.

Love,
T