Something. Anything. Nothing. ( Or What We Did Different this Summer Vacation)

This year we added a little something extra to our vacation

It was a simple daily rhythm David practiced on his pilgrimage to Israel.

The only schedule

we were encouraged to follow involved

three things:

something

anything

&

nothing

Something…

was to be an intentional, quasi- scheduled event,

done alone

or

with a group.

So needing something to do,

one afternoon we hiked up Amicalola Falls,

6 adults

with 3 children

under 2

Perhaps he's seen too many adventure movies?

Can I get a hoo ha?!

Buoyed by this feat a certain person not especially known to be outdoorsy

birthed a search for more remote, calf-cramping trails, which then required trips by same to the

local North Face store for proper maps and a suitable back pack equipped with -

I kid you not- -

the same hydration gear used by the US military.

Later, to entertain ourselves on the drive home to Florida this person bought a book on thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail called a Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson and had me read aloud for 10 straight hours

...but I digress

At times something was an appointment to steal a kiss

Or you got a hankering for a good page turner

Once, something was class 4 rapids for the guys

countered by lunch and spa-hhhing for the girls

You should also know there was a picnic

that had to be sherpa-ed down the mountain

babies and all

to a splendid

sweat inducing, mosquito swatting spot

After dinner we sat around as the sun went down,

to enjoy 2 parts laughter to 1 part conversation,

loosely but intentionally structured to help us unearth

important somethings on our hearts---

Once something included a sweet afternoon

lapping up a sparkling lake

some of us...

literally

Anything…

was an individual choice to do

whatever you thought you’d enjoy

especially if it involved

a daring whim.

perched on the balcony I read poems

and pulled out my paints

to capture the mountains

and a leaf I found on a trail

Joe and Jon kept a fierce foosball tournament going,

complete with some serious trash talk

about their mama.

Another anything for me

was doing what I love

dreamy wandering

through the tiny town where we

discovered a beautiful interiors store

Gatewood Hall/Gracious Home

And some of us dreamed

we could do anything

We especially liked the idea that food qualified as an anything

Actually

food

came up a lot in this category

And a few of us liked the idea of getting to eat

anything

we wanted

David’s anything always involved the luxury of reading

any book he could get on his ipad

always with his feet propped up.

But doing

Nothing

was what we all liked best

With nothing to do we had plenty of time

to get our walking in

even if it meant after dinner

down the train tracks

It felt good to stand around

doing nothing

A lot of our nothing had to do with magazines

Seems the more we did

nothing

the more we got playful

It just felt great having nothing to do

and nowhere to be

So we hung around

together

just doing a whole lot of

nothing

because nothing makes the most fun

Mostly

we accomplished our

nothing

with the help of rocking chairs

gazing out at the hills

being lulled by the sound of the river

"Summer afternoon... summer afternoon...

the two most beautiful words in the English language.”

Henry James