In and Out

The first of three rainy days at the beach. I had a massage scheduled and drove into town about an hour before to make sure I could find parking and have a relaxed arrival. This day spa is popular, and I've been trying to get an appointment at this place for two years, so I was glad to finally be able to book a treatment.

There are all kinds of tempting goodies for sale. All those products coming together in one small space produces a smell you can't buy, but wish you could. I used to get a similar feeling in the artisanal soap department in Whole Foods.

The 90 minute treatment in a dark room with dark sheets on the massage table led me into deep relaxation, and I honestly don't know how she got my body to stop hurting because she worked with barely any pressure. A bit like magic, it was.

I walked around town, popped into a few stores, browsed a bookstore and decided to pass on the new release I've been wanting to buy and read. I have such a stack of unread books at home already that I think I'll wait til it comes out in paperback. I finished David Baldacci and have moved on to Elizabeth Peters. It's my first time reading her. I found the book on a bookshelf in the basement at Mom's. I have a feeling I will want more.

I stopped to pick up some salt water taffy and a small piece of fudge from Dolle's. It's an institution in Rehoboth Beach. I did not see the Bidens. 

It rained lightly the whole time I was walking around. I would have walked the whole boardwalk but I settled for the end of it. Or the beginning. Which is in the middle.

I don't have a lot of tolerance for discomfort these days, or I'd have walked around more and taken advantage of the last hour on my meter. But, honestly, I just wanted to get back to the beach house and burrow into my book. I've given myself an entire week to read and I step away from it only grudgingly. Well, that's not completely true. I happily met some old friends yesterday for lunch and I felt so good about going out when I got back, that I went back out and took myself to dinner. Roasted oysters, soft-shelled crab, key lime pie. Delicious.

The Green Wilderness is a daily writing practice that opens a landscape of discovery into my own human experience. 

Katherine Cartwright has been blogging since 2012, and each year brings new wonders. She asks big questions of the small things in life.

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