I’m happy to report that the rest of the time here has been exceptionally smooth sailing, without any actual sailing. We’ve been able to spend time by the pool (albeit me under an umbrella with a shirt on the whole time, but at I’m least outside), we went snorkeling this morning and got to see two sea turtles, and we’ve been dining on these amazing Mahi Mahi tacos and having fruity drinks by the pool.
Tim finished reading Unbreakable, and we tried to watch the movie last night but he was tired and I was moritifed. I have enough scary thoughts floating around in my head thank you. I like the Japanese, and I’d like to go on liking them, keeping in mind that both sides were pretty nasty to eachother during the war, and glad to not be in one myself.
Going to start work on an itineary for my little sister and her boyfriend who are coming to visit Denver next Wednesday. Excited to get home and smother my puppies, but am planning to enjoy every last minute here until I have to bid farewell to my dear friend The Ocean. I could listen to it tell the stories of uncertainty, doubt, strength, tragedy, passion, and victory all night long, but I have other plans that need attention. I have to believe that Spring is finally coming, and with it the yearly thaw of winters worries.
What are you going to do to celebrate?
Travel
Sundays (Get it?)
Sorry to keep anyone waiting, this post has been long in the making. (That sounds kind of fun and lyrical, doesn’t it? Well that ends here). This post started out titled “I love traveling, and it wants to see other people”. As I began writing it, it morphed into two things- a letter to Las Vegas, and a letter to the tropics. To narrow things down, I decided to focus specifically on this trip, instead of dredging up every negative vacation experience I’ve had into one long rant. (To clarify, in crafting this I incidentally DID dredge up every negative vacation experience I’ve ever had, which was truly, a joy).
Dear Big Island,
Your waters emit more radiant shades of blue and green than I have ever known before. I adore your cool breezes, your vast lands, your awesome volcanoes, and your stunningly colorful birds. I wish I could lay out and bask in your glorious rays without discretion, but it seems that you are seeing other people on the side. While I gush over all the things I’d like to do with you, you tell me “we need to slow down”. I am made to put on an embarrassingly thick SPF 70 sunscreen, and spread it around in places most people would consider taboo. I suffer these indignities for you, because I just want to spend time with you. But I find out you aren’t as committed to this relationship as I am when I start to break out in rashes under my armpits and stomach. You’ve taken our love and turned it into something painful and itchy, but I’m still committed, so I stay in the room where the air conditioning helps numb the signs of your affair. I secretly watch you showing others a good time from the window of our room, wishing it was me instead of them. I am Antony, and you Cleopatra.
It is hard to be positive and “make the best of it” when you are down about your vacation. Little things that would and should not bother you quickly become hurdles to your enjoyment. And when the only person for you to act out on is the last person you want to act out on, it just adds to the already frustrating and disappointing feels you’re feeling on your should be “vacation” in the first place.
In short, it lands you in an undesirable mental space. Last night Tim bought some cards and in an attempt to spend time with me since I had been stuck in the room for most of the day, looked up the rules for Golf and sat down to play with me at the table. I would like to take a second to just point out how awesome this is, that we’re on a very special vacation together in which my body has decided to impede my enjoyment, and he just wants to sit inside and play cards with me. But I’m already negatively predisposed to going into something new, especially if the other person is already familiar with the subject. Heap onto that all the other negative thoughts I’d been thinking to myself, like “vacation sabotuer”, “fatty mcFatterson (I know)”, and “fun sucker”, and you have an instant train wreck after losing the first five hands. I sort of jokingly threw my cards down at an angle towards my loving partner in a mock temper tantrum which did not look or feel “mock” at all and as you can image that pretty much ended the night.
The morning didn’t bring much hope for quick resolution and I’ve been trying to explain, apologize, and reason through my behavior all morning. Only now, being back outside by the pool (a risk I had to take as I just couldn’t stand being in such a beautiful place locked up inside anymore), am I starting to be able to separate myself from the situation. I don’t know why I get heat rash, or how to resolve it. I’ve been to my doctor and dermatologist, but still have no real tools to deal with it, even after spending an entire day googling “photosensitivity”, “prickly heat”, and “heat rash”. (Worse than the mixed results I got from those searches are the hundreds of pictures of other people’s rashes.) This is pretty frustrating, and doesn’t leave me with a lot of the resources I typically have for dealing with my normal set of neurosis. So I’m going to chalk it up to having a bad day. I have bad days when I’m at my best, so certainly I can have bad days when I’m at my worst. (Mom, if you’re reading this, I was playing cards and pulled a Linda. It was a disembodied experience and I could see myself about to have a meltdown but couldn’t do anything to prevent it. If this is the way it happens to you then I totally get it. If not, then oh well no more PacMan).
TLDR; I turned into a sunrash monster, am on the path to recovery.
As always,
Chris
P.S. In case the title doesn’t make sense I got this Sun rash on Sunday. GET IT NOW?
On our way to the Big Island!
Mornings are seriously the worst. Anyone who says they like mornings is a fraud and should be handed in to the proper authorities immediately so that the rest of us will be allowed to sleep until we wake up naturally. Even on days when you are going to take a fabulous vacation, like today. My 7am is everyone elses 3am. But rest assured my vast number of readers that I am fairing well and soon will be on another plane to Hawaii.
Everytime I get to fly over the ocean I fantasize that I will get to go to THE ISLAND, but then remember I have never tortured anyone in the Gulf War, was not an alcoholic doctor, did not murder my step-father, was not a con artist, did not win the lottery, and so on and so fourth. Maybe I would be the Rose and insist to everyone that Tim was not dead but landed on a different part of the Island in the tail section and our strong emotional connection gave me the proof I needed to know he was waiting for me to go with Jack and find him. Maybe not. Maybe I would be like Boon and die in the first season. Bummer. Our plane hit some turbulence on the way here while I was in the bathroom and I had a flash of Charlie getting knocked about as the plane went down.
Still haven’t heard back from Blue Apron, thinking if I can’t post the recipes I can at least post links to their site and pictures of the food I make. Will have beach pictures as soon as possible. BONUS picture of me writing this post.