ELEANOR RIGBY

I decided to spend some time at the beach this afternoon. I went "minimally", meaning, only with a towel, a bottle of water and some sun screen. Of course, I forgot my hat. The sun was playing hide and seek behind clouds the entire time I was there, which was only for a little over an hour.

Since this is a holiday weekend, the beach was the most crowded I had seen it. It actually took me a little while to find a parking space, which I did on a side street several blocks up from where I normally park.

I went for a walk along the water after I first got there. The water was nice and warm, and the waves were pretty decent too.

As I was laying there on my towel, I was thinking about this holiday weekend. A lot of thoughts ran thru my brain as I lay there. Being Memorial Day Weekend, I was thinking about my family. My sister and brother celebrate their birthday (they're twins) on this weekend. The family always gathered for a cookout at my sister's house; a family tradition. And just being back from visiting Gina yesterday, I was thinking a lot about my children and how we're all scattered now. And add to the mix, the fact that Wayne is out of town and we always have been doing things together on the weekend, so I have a lot of solo time to think.

I was thinking about loneliness. Loneliness can sometimes hit us for a moment, or sometimes it hangs around for a longer period of time. We can be in the middle of a huge crowd, yet still feel alone. Waking up alone. Going to sleep alone. We can be very happy for the most part, but loneliness can creep in suddenly when we're not looking for it. And when family and friends are not close, it can be downright depressing at times.

But, I'm not meaning for this to be a downer post. Although I feel alone at times, life is good. I did get to talk with some friends on the phone today, and met up with some friends tonight to hang out for a short while. And at the risk of sounding pathetic, I even stopped at Publix on my way up to Clearwater to check on Tommy (Wayne's cat) and bought myself some baked beans, cole slaw and potato salad and had me my own little Memorial Day "cookout" (only without the cooked part!) I am meeting Otto for lunch tomorrow, so it should be a fun day. At least work is on vacation for a day.

On my way back to my car, I spotted this in the sand. Someone had made a heart and filled the lines in with rose petals.

I also spotted this. What do you think? Is it a coconut or did someone loose their hairpiece?