We arrived to Florida on Thursday morning after a short 2 hour flight from Louisville, Kentucky. After we landed in Punta Gorda (gotta love the random places where Allegiant flies, right? ;) ) we picked up our rental car and headed north to Sarasota.
I lived in Sarasota for about a decade. I lived overseas for part of that time but Sarasota was where I considered to be my home. It was where I came back to after each overseas adventure and/or mission trip.
I used to teach elementary school in town here and after a week of teaching all I wanted to do was sit in silence. Most weekends I'd spend a couple hours either Friday or Saturday night going to the beach and just walking in silence. I'd go right around sunset and enjoy the show and then after everyone else left I'd go for my 'W and T with G - O - D' - walk and talk with God. It's cheesy I know, but so is the author of that idea, your's truly :)
This last week had been wearing on me with the weather in Louisville. It was mostly overcast and so I'd been feeling a bit down. After we arrived and got settled down in our friends' place, I went to my tried and truest form of therapy, Siesta Beach. The sand feels like baby powder between your toes, the water was the exact right temperature. A long walk on the beach is not simply something to put in a dating profile, it's a little slice of heaven.
Maybe that sounds weird to go to the beach after dark but don't knock it till you try it. Plus I burn really easily so going during the day isn't always my favorite unless I lather up with sunscreen several times throughout the time spent on the beach.
Walking on the beach at night or hiking a mountain in the morning are two of the best forms of therapy I've ever experienced. If you're near nature and it's not snowing like it did in Illinois where my parents live yesterday, I encourage you to go get some fresh air and just breathe it in. I promise the world will keep turning if you take a short time out from it :)
