Sun cravings

When I was little, I loved going to the pool, running through the sprinkler, visiting beaches in Michigan on vacations, and playing outside. I even have pictures in my possession which prove it is not impossible (just not very likely) for me to get a tan.

So years ago, I sat down and tried to figure out exactly when I lost this love of the outdoors and love of "swimming". It could have been when I flunked the same swimming lessons class/level three years in a row. (Putting the girl with little-to-no-coordination in the water and telling her to do things there that she couldn’t do on solid ground is a little too ambitious in my opinion. I’m just sayin’.) It could have been when we moved from our beloved farm to a different farm - leaving our precious treehouse and ‘playground’ behind. It could have been when I, ya know, got a job and actually entered the making-a-living phase of life. It could have been when I started to care how I looked in a bathing suit. Regardless, my preferences switched from beach-bum-vacations to adventure-vacations or site-seeing-trips. I probably would have preferred a trip to Washington, D.C. over a trip to Hawaii. I say probably because I was not actually offered this decision.

You can see how weird it is that now all of a sudden, when I am very much NOT going to look good in a bathing suit, I have this burning desire to spend countless hours doing absolutely nothing surrounded by acres and acres of golden sandy warmth. I long to close my eyes and listen to the waves. I ache to fall asleep wrapped in sunshine. And how funny is it that I want all of this now that we have decided our "vacation" will be to the maternity ward sometime in November? I certainly would not trade the November trip for the beach trip - because we waited for this November trip for a long time. I’m not disappointed in what we are using our vacation days on this year. But I find it amusing that now I might actually categorize myself as a beach bum, if only I had the opportunity. Hey, it sounds better than just "bum".