What do you do when you get almost to your goal—but not quite? You practice patience. And gratitude.
Shirley La Vanne
I feel so lucky and blessed by all who donated enough to help me cover the down payment on a van for my dream camping trip. It just wasn’t enough to cover the gas to actually go on the trip. In other words, I have a beautiful van sitting outside waiting for the trip of a lifetime—but she will have to wait. And so will I.
And you know what? That’s okay.
I don’t feel comfortable asking for more, especially with the government shutdown and so many suffering because of it. My camping trip is, um, nonessential. It can wait a while longer while I save up.
So I’m thinking about all the lovely places to explore right here in Southern California. There are lots of them. Take the hippie vibe of Ocean Beach, CA, where ‘Patience La Vanne*’ and I spent time yesterday….
Life-size statue of a lifeguard, looking for someone to rescue. (*waves* Me! Here I am!) I wonder how many tourists have draped their arm around him to pose for pics?
The guy who is manning this political kiosk promoting left-leaning causes is hidden in the shade. Trust me that he looks totally laid back.
Okay, not exactly lovely. My shots of the beach were pretty boring, actually—just water and sand with a few people thrown in for good measure. I am not a great photographer.
Little girl burying her brother in the sand in front of the lifeguard tower. Sorry I couldn’t get a better shot with my iPod Touch. I’ll bring my real camera from now on.
And so the adventure begins, patiently.
* I was going to name her Shirley (thanks to my Facebook friend Joan Hitlin for the idea) but after writing this post, I realized that Patience is the perfect name for her.
