LOVE, SCRATCHES, AND LOST SUNGLASSES

Labor Day weekend was wonderful. I hope it was for you too. Sunday night, we were on the beach under a nearly-full moon with our friends, another couple. With the sound of the waves washing up on the shore, and the moon shining down with no other lights around, it was quite romantic. We've both been married for years, but we joked about how romantic it was and kidded each other about "no necking allowed."

Monday morning, we decided to go watch the sunrise over the ocean. What a sight! We took our coffee and lawn chairs and Bible and headed to the beach. The news the night before had announced sunrise at 7:04, so we were in our chairs by ten minutes to seven, waiting for the spectacular sight. When we lived on the Gulf, we enjoyed many sunset picnics on the beach where the sun looked like a giant children's beach ball as it dropped into the water. And the sky? Oh, my. It looked like an artist's pallete with its pinks and golds and oranges and reds and baby blues and pale grays. But it'd been awhile since I'd seen a beach sunrise, and so I was relishing the thought.

Just as the sun came up over the water, with the clouds rimmed in pink, a school of dolphins swam by, right in front of us. Talk about something special? Then, one jumped, nearly as high as the dolphins at SeaWorld. It was literally cavorting, like it was saying, I'm so happy to be alive. We started quoting scriptures, about the handiwork of God, and the seas, and the oceans. Milton read a portion of scripture, and we talked about the things of the Lord until the sky was as bright as a noonday sun. My daughter Jennifer (http://its-all-about-him.blogspot.com) later told me, "Mom, y'all were delighting in the Lord by doing that." She reminded me of the scripture, "Delight yourselves in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." She said, "As we delight in the Lord, He plants desires in our hearts, and then He fulfills them." An exciting thought, right?

Later, we went sailing on the nearby lake that has brackish water--that means it's a mixture of fresh and salt water. It's as green as grass and has islands of trees throughout. Well, Milton and Don sailed. Sandra and I were on a paddle boat because they only had one sailboat available. It felt as if we were two couples dating, with the banter going on between both boats. She and I were working our legs furiously, and the guys were lazily catching the wind and soon, they were far ahead, the giant triangle of multi-colored nylon standing high above the tree line. Finally, we caught up with them, and Sandra took off her lifejacket. She wanted to tie one of the belts to a hook on their boat but they were trying to get away from us, and we were all laughing. For awhile there, I was afraid she was going to fall into the water as she leaned over it trying to get the belt tied. After it was secure, they pulled us. Then both boats grew still in the water because the wind had died down. They started whining about letting them go and we finally untied the belt. Then Sandra and I headed back to shore where we traded our paddle boat for a canoe. Canoes are much faster than paddle boats, but you sure get a strenuous upper body workout. We playfully rammed them a few times, making it that much more fun.

After we turned our boats in, we were as hot as all get out, and I said, "Let's go swim at the beach," and so we rode our bikes over to the beach, left them in the sand, and plunged in. I had on my contact lenses, so I wasn't intending to go under, just up to my neck. But the undertow was fierce, and the waves were high. I managed to keep standing as they crashed about me, and then Milton and I swam past the wave line, and we didn't have to worry about the waves anymore. The waves were a surfer's dream, and several surfers were nearby catching the crest of the waves and riding them all the way in to shore. Suddenly, a wave crashed right behind me even though we were past the wave line, and it was too big and high for me to handle. It drug me under and pulled me out, and I reached for Milton, and I remember raking something with my fingernails. When I surfaced, talk about unclogging your sinuses? My nose and eyes burned like fire (though I didn't lose my contacts).

I made it back to the sand, wanting my water bottle on my bike. Milton came out of the water, too, and there, on his back were two angry-looking red scratch marks. I'd gotten him good. He didn't even complain. He'd also lost his sunglasses. He didn't complain about that either.

That's love.

WIN A FREE LOVE STORY (NOVEL)

By commenting on my blog, you'll have a chance to win Deborah Raney's newly-released A Vow to Cherish. The more times you comment, the more your name goes in the hat. I'll announce the winner next Monday. This past week's winner is Patricia. You've won In the Shade of the Jacaranda by Nikki Arana. Congratulations!