Something About an Ocean

First of all, let me say to those of you who have not given up on my blog and are actually reading this because you keep checking it - Thank you.

My computer completely crashed and is now in the hands of Dell for rebuilding, or whatever they do to make it usable again. Thanks to Pete for dealing with them for me, or it would still be a coffee table decoration.

We just returned from South Carolina to be part of the wedding celebration for Dylan and Lauren. It was a great week. Most of you already know about it, because you were there.

Those of you who know me realize that I am an advocate for new experiences. If you ask my advice on whether or not to try something new or go somewhere you've never been, I generally lean toward going for it. For me, personally, the culinary realm may disqualify me. Nevertheless, when I wanted to ride a motorcycle, I bought one and then learned to ride. I had never been on one till then. I thought sailing might be fun, so I bought a small sailboat, then took it out on the lake. I had never even been on a sailboat. As you might expect, there was a struggle through that learning curve, and some irate people in the swim area, but we always managed to make it back to dry land...eventually.

So, my wife had never been to an ocean. Never even seen one. We decided that this trip to South Carolina was the perfect opportunity for her first experience. For the first time in her life, she saw the ocean. She swam in the ocean.

Today, I sold my motorcycle trailer to a man that is fighting three different kinds of cancer. His desire is to take his motorcycle back to Pensacola Florida so that he can ride the beach one last time. There was a time when he would have made the ride to Florida from Phoenix, now he will have to trailer it. For Richard, he is looking for one final beach experience.

In the course of a single week, I have had the chance to be with two people at opposite ends of their ocean memories. My wife making her first memory, and Richard hoping to make it there for his last.

So whether it's something you've never done or something you want to do one more time... don't put it off too long.