Thoughts From the Front Porch…
Time flies with ease and certainty. It glides unimpeded to a future destination. Trying to catch time, or even make time, is a proven exercise in futility.
Where does time go? Always forward. Beyond that we know nothing.
As time goes, so do we. Like time, we can’t go back physically. Only our mind can take us back in time.
Steve Jobs, the mastermind behind the Apple empire, said “The most precious resource we all have is time.” Jobs, like all of us will, at some point, ran out of time.
J. R. R. Tolkien, author and philologist (one who studies literary texts and written records), said “We all have to decide what to do with the time that is given us.”
My wife and I decided a few years ago to spend our winter months in a warmer climate than northeast Ohio afforded us. We settled in south coastal Georgia. It was a great decision for us.
It seems like just yesterday we arrived back at our southern outpost but here almost 140 days later it’s time to leave this place we love until winter blows again up north.
It has been a very abnormal Georgia winter, markedly cooler than normal. Many nights in the 40-degree range, maybe even a couple dozen in the 20s and 30s. This area saw its first snow since 1989. It was more like slush, but the children were thrilled. Days were consistently in the 60s. It took to April to get temps above 70 almost daily.
Yet, it was better than the brutal winter our up north friends endured. A few days before we left in December, Ashtabula, Ohio got four feet of lake effect snow. Our northern home is only about 45 minutes south of Ashtabula, we received about five inches of the white stuff.
We have so enjoyed our time here this year. We participated in many fun and inspirational events at our church. We hosted a picnic for about 40 friends a couple of weeks ago. We had friends from up north and some from Florida visit us.
We were able to enjoy nearby St. Simons and Jekyll islands on numerous occasions.
Just last week we took time to sit on the beach a couple of times and revisit one of our favorite spots, Driftwood Beach on Jekyll.
There are some great places to eat there, as well as in Brunswick, Jesup and Waycross. We didn’t make a trip to Savannah this year, except for a short visit to a friend in a hospital there.
Our back yard has been full of squirrels. Our orange trees have bloomed, the azaleas and roses have been just beautiful.
The cool weather delayed the Amaryllis blooms, but they finally arrived mid April and they are still showing off.
The banana leaves are way behind schedule. The cool weather even made the palm trees seem a little droopy. There’s just something peaceful about a palm tree.
Our project for this year in our small coastal area cottage was to remove a small bathroom and turn it into a pantry. I was able to turn a one-day project into a three-week job. Our 1,200 square foot cottage didn’t need three baths, but it surely needed storage space.
So, tomorrow after church, and a wonderful pot luck luncheon, we will head north on an 875 mile journey to springtime in Ohio.
We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever. Carl Sagan said that.
Thanks for reading. Your comments would add so much to this post.
Or you could buy me a coffee here. Coffee will be necessary on a 875 mile drive.