Mysterious indeed

For me, there is nothing more relaxing and rejuvenating then spending the day at the beach. Laying out in the sun, listening to the waves and walking along the shoreline brings me a sense of calm that I can find no where else. It is very strange then, that my line between ultimate serenity and complete panic lay just a few feet apart.
I am terrified of the water. I do not come from "water" folk; we never had a pool, never went to the town lake and certainly never went on a beach vacation. I don't know how to swim - never learned because why should I? I was never near the water. My ocean experiences did not come until much later in my life and now I am constantly afriad of being dragged under and swept out to sea (where, should I survive the drowning, I just know terror is waiting for me - I watch shark week!). Despite my total fear of all that the ocean entails I am drawn to the beach. Quite mysterious, no?
So this weekend, I packed up my towel and sunscreen, put on my cutest bathing suit and headed to the beach. I did go out in the water (with someone holding each arm) and enjoyed the waves for a little while. I won't lie to you, tears were shed. Salt water was swallowed and sand scrapes were received. Despite all of this, I had a wonderful weekend in the outdoors.

My magnificent and mysterious love affair with the ocean continues...

Have a great week everyone!

Joie
Proud resident of the Ocean State

Get Outside?!

Oh the irony. Yes, I hike, and yes I like the outdoors… but not that much. Most of my outdoor experiences take place when I am staffing an immersion experience of some sort so this week when I had to pick the task for “Get Outside” I spent a lot of time thinking about it. Originally, I had planned out what my “magnificent, mysterious” natural wonder was going to be… I’d watch a sunset, or get out and look at the stars, but of course this weekend, there was no glorious sunset and I didn’t get a chance to walk at night and look at the stars. I did, however, finally make it outside for a bit today and while looking around among the U-Hauls that are starting to line the streets here, I looked up and saw something very cool. The sun was covered by a thin cloud, which allowed these shadow-y rays to surround the cloud. It wasn’t the normal rays you see shining through the clouds, it was like a shadowed outline. I wish I had a camera, but didn't follow my own guidelines and didn't have one. It was something I hadn’t seen before and something I considered both magnificent and mysterious.

Shavua Tov everyone!

Group Daled Week 2 Task

Task #2: Get Outside

For this weeks task, Get Outside this weekend. While outside find something in nature that you consider both mysterious and magnificent. Share with everyone what you saw and take pictures if possible to share.

Enjoy the fresh air! and Shabbat Shalom.