Frozen in Time

            Time has begun to take on that warped speed that it tends to take on toward the end of the year.  Like most people, I have found myself trying to make plans.  Plans for the holidays, plans for the New Year, plans for life.  There is a rush that goes along with this time of year.  So many things start to stockpile on the to-do list that sometimes it’s nice to just take a moment and take a breath.  So that’s what we do.  Right before things really start to get going full-speed ahead, we take the time to escape for a while.  Or at least that’s what I do. 

            One of my birthday gifts this year was an Amelia Island cruise.  Last weekend, Wes and I escaped Jacksonville for the evening and watched the sunset from the water with a bottle of wine.  It was like time slowed down for the evening.  We cruised around with about 30 other people, but we could have been all alone on that boat for all we knew.  We watched the wild horses run and spied dolphins and snuggled under a blanket and just breathed.  We talked and talked for the entire cruise, and when it was over we sat on a bench by the water and talked some more.  It seemed like we would be able to stay there forever, like time had actually paused for us, like Monday would never really come. 

            Then, after a long week of work, we felt like we needed to slow things down again.  So we escaped again, back to the water.  We headed off to Pensacola for the weekend to visit my parents and ventured out on a Pontoon boat for the day.  And, again, it was like time seemed to slow down for us.  As though it some how knew how much we needed it.  And, so, with the slow trudge of the clock and the slight sway of the boat we began to recharge. 

            But Monday (or in this week’s case, Tuesday) always rolls around again, and even with the slow motion of the clock on the water, it always comes too soon.  But, thankfully, nowadays they are much easier to stomach, especially knowing that in some odd way, time is on my side.  Like a good friend who is always good for a favor when you need it most.  Or maybe it isn’t time doing me a favor after all.  Maybe it’s just that, after rushing for so long, I finally feel content enough to slow down and take it all in.  Maybe I no longer feel the need to charge full-speed ahead in search of what’s around the corner because I finally know that today, tomorrow, the next day and every day after that are going to be filled with the same blissful contentment that those frozen moments on the water are filled with.  And being able to slow down after running for so long, well that’s one of the best feelings there is.