Pardon the personal entry – the weeks’ events just needed reporting somehow.
My wife, in the spring, asked me if I thought a beach vacation would be a good idea. She found a ‘cheap’ place that looked just perfect. Since I knew we were spending a week in DC and Colonial Williamsburg AND a week in the Adirondacks, I said that maybe next year would be better.
The next report on the topic was that she had booked the place. For a week. It is always nice to have input into these decisions.
I was concerned about a few items. First, three weeks out of the office is a lot for me. Second, she breezily informed me closer to the time to pack up that the house was not air-conditioned. However, the internet ad assured us that bay breezes and many fans made the place comfortable. This struck me as somewhat fanciful in the middle of July.
The appointed hour to leave came, as I was hot and heavy into a 4 inch offering memorandum for a client physician organization considering buying into a hospital. I dutifully toted it along, together with my laptop, printer, and other implements of destruction.
We arrived to quite a rustic cabin right on the beach, a really nice location. On the ride down my wife mentioned that the tap water “had iron in it,” so we may want to bring potable water. I believe the true element in the water is sulfur – an almost overpowering aroma of rotten eggs accompanies any use of the tap water. Showers become an interesting experience indeed.
We arrived Sunday evening in time to take a dip in the bay with the kids while my wife went out on a grocery run. A truly beautiful location.
Monday I woke everybody up to view the sunrise over the bay – everybody agreed it was neat, and told me not to wake them up for another one. I took a dip in the bay with the kids, and got several hours work on reviewing the documents for the hospital deal. A nice day, altogether.
Tuesday morning, a dip in the bay. Kids are now bored, since we don’t let them watch TV. We decide to drive to Lewes to take a head boat out on a 3 hour sand shark fishing trip designed for kids. I was relieved to see that the name of the boat was NOT the Minnow. Kids had a great time, caught a few fish, and even Mom and Dad brought a few in (between baiting hooks for the princes and princess, who could not touch the icky clam bait).
During the whole trip, my eyes were watering intensely, and my nose was running like a faucet. I attributed those symptoms to sunscreen in my eyes, but when we got to the dock, I was whipped. I could barely crawl to the car, and was very hot to the touch. The old Marine training kicked in, and I announced myself a heat casualty. Got back to the house for an invigorating cold rotten egg shower, and made Gatorade from the lemonade we had with salt stirred in. My son John helpfully agreed to sleep with me that night, to make sure I didn’t get worse from the heat.
In the morning, I still felt weak and sick. The suspicion began to emerge that my problem wasn’t the heat, since my wife, 2 10-year olds and a 7 year-old had not felt even especially warm on the water. By now, I was hacking and looking a lot more like somebody with a bad cold. I ended up sleeping all day Wednesday and most of the day Thursday.
Friday, I didn’t feel ready to tackle client work, but I did go out in the bay with the kids for several hours. I felt like I had completed a marathon when I was done. Friday night we went out to dinner, and John started to snort and cough. Heat exhaustion isn’t contagious, but a cold sure is.
Saturday is our last full day at the beach. I’m ready to call it another excellent vacation. Only one sick kid is probably a victory of some sort.
Thank God, we only have one more of these refreshing breaks scheduled!