even at the beach…

Oh no, I lost my wreath in the ocean…

My oldest daughter took me to the beach last weekend to get away from all the things that are making my life just a bit too much right now. I needed to breathe the sea air and feel the sun…although we weren’t sure we would have sun since the forecast was calling for rain the entire time. That is one of the things I needed to get away from..the constant rain and dreariness here at home. Having said that, the weather gods were looking out for us… because the sun came out every day but one and I got to sit on the beach and feed my soul.

On the way to the beach and while we were there we encountered some things that made me laugh out loud and I so needed to laugh. I haven’t had much to laugh about lately…but that’s another story. This one is just about the funny, weird things we saw while driving there and at the beach.

A business sign – While most business signs are not usually funny, this one was. The sign on the store said, “Perfect Furniture.” In front on the store was a sofa that was falling apart. Not sure if it was for sale or they had it sitting out for the trash collector, but it struck me funny…it clearly was not “perfect.”

A rabbit – Most of the time rabbits are not funny..unless they are in a cartoon. But as we were driving along I had to do a double take when I saw a huge rabbit lying on the hood of a car. And yes it was alive because it moved. I guess it was the family pet?? But most of the time pet rabbits are in a cage not relaxing on the roof of the car.

A flashing sign – One day as we drove over to the beach, there was one of those flashing signs sitting along the rode…the sign said, “Limited Lifeguards.” That’s it, just those two words. Made me chuckle and think…why are they limited? Did it mean they didn’t have enough of them or they were limited in what they could do… various other thoughts come to mind..

A clerks name – My daughter and I both love “Life is Good” tee shirts and we always stop in our favorite shop to see if they have any new ones we might like. Of course they did and I bought one. It was a beach chair on the beach and under it were the words, “unplug”…perfect. When I got back to the house I looked at the receipt and it said, your clerks name is “Miracle Handy”…had I known this while I was in the store I would have asked her for one.

Zoltar – I’m not sure if any of you are familiar with Zoltar, the fortune telling machine. You find them on the boardwalk in most beach towns. Also if you have ever watched the movie “Big” with Tom Hanks, it is the machine that granted his wish to be “big.” Anyway, it is a tradition in our family that whenever we see one we get our fortune told by Zoltar. I put my money in and waited…(he always talks to you before printing out your fortune)…and then he says, “live for today..for tomorrow you may be dead.” A guy walking along the boardwalk comes running over and says, did he say what I think he said, “did he just say, live for today, for tomorrow you may be dead.” I said, yes he said that…and the best part is.. he said that to me last year as well… I guess I need to listen to him, as he really wants me to “get” that message!

Juan – a few years ago when I was working for a jewelry company, I serviced stores at the beach. I would spend 2 or 3 days at a time down there and went out to dinner by myself every night. I had a favorite mexican restaurant down there I always went to and still do. There was a waiter that usually waited on me and we chatted every time I went there. He worried about me since I was always alone. I told him i worked down there and that is why I was alone. So I took my family there once and he came running up and said, “Oh, I am so happy, you do have friends.” We all laughed, but he really was genuinely happy for me. I haven’t seen him for quite some time. We went there last weekend for dinner and all of the sudden he shows up at our table. He looked at us and said I thought that was you. He told us he hadn’t been working at this particular restaurant, he was working at one of their other ones and going to school. We chatted for awhile and he made us friends on FB so we wouldn’t lose touch again. It really was so great to see him again! When we left my daughter looked at me and said…”that was Juan right? I wasn’t sure if that was the right “juan” or not.” If you don’t get it, say it out loud…she didn’t mean it to be funny, but it sure was.

A glove and a wreath – I saw a glove on the beach, it had just washed up on the shore. I’m not sure what that means and why I saw it. If you know me… I am always looking for signs. A glove keeps your hand warm and protects it from the cold. This was a work type glove, so I’m guessing it was sending me a message that I am protected. At least that is what I chose to believe. Now the wreath…wreaths on doors are a decoration…a welcome to all that visit. A wreath floating in the water means…welcome to the beach?? Oh..my gosh, as I was typing this I got it…I got the message…you are home…welcome home!

There were many other weird things that happened but these are some of the best. And even though there are some things going on in my life that I am having some  trouble with…there is one thing for sure, my life far from boring. And it helps to laugh!

“If you just go with the flow, no matter what weird things happen along the way, you always end up exactly where you belong.” ~ Tom Upton