Simple Joys of the Week, June 7th Edition

Oh-em-gee, Hurricane Andrea is no joke. She arrived in South Carolina last night, and wow, was she intense. Her loud and powerful winds--so strong that they were shaking the house and thus, my bed (!)--woke me up around 3am last night. I lay in bed from about 3-4, checking the weather reports, watching "Tropical Storm Warning" (with a chance for tornadoes) and "Flash Flood Warning" pop-up across the screen, and imagining our roof being torn off and all us floating away, out into the flooded neighborhood/ocean. [Pretty scary night.]

However, as you can see, that did not happen, and now I'm back in my spot on the front porch this morning, enjoying the birds chirping, the cool breeze, and the warm sun peeking through the clouds every so often. There's so much to be thankful for in this life. 

Since it's always hard to pick my favorite simple, sensory joys of the week when I've been on vacation (there are just so many!), today's SJOTW are organized into a list of sorts, noting some of my favorite experiences from the trip thus far. 

What made YOU smile over the past 7 days? My SJOTW are below...

HEAR: The sounds of wildlife (more on the wildlife here, below), birds chirping while I sit on the porch every morning, waves crashing, breeze coming in off of the ocean, laughter while playing games in the evenings, and complete silence at night (no cars, no drunk people walking by and yelling, no buses--nothing!). Being on your own private island definitely has it's perks. 

SEE: The wildlife of Harbor Island, including alligators (we've seen 2 babies and a BIG mama!), a bunch of different types of Egrets, crabs (Fiddler, Horseshoe, Hermit, etc.), a shark, baby toads, tons jellyfish (eek!), and of course, fish. This place is teeming with critters and I LOVE it. 

TASTE: Veggie kabobs on the grill, late-afternoon glass of chilled white wine, ice cold water while on the hot beach, homemade sweet potato fries, and freshly-caught fish with butter and lemon juice. We've grilled out every single night, and it's been fabulous. 

SMELL: The salty air, the marsh, scents from the grill wafting up through the porch slats, afternoon thunderstorms moving in, sunscreen = scents of the beach. 

TOUCH: The sand between my toes, the warmth of the sun, the fabulously warm water of the ocean at low tide, yoga (and painting) on the balcony in the late afternoon, the cool breeze, lying down in bed at night after a long day in the sun. Ahhhhhhhhh. 

Oh, and another SJOTW? Watching my goofy brother, Patrick, dig a "sand chair" every day at the beach. He would spend at least 30-45 minutes crafting the perfect sand chair, only to watch it be destroyed by the high tide a few hours later. But that didn't stop him from making it every day! 

I love his non-attachment [for my yogi friends: Aparigraha] to his creations and think I could learn quite a bit from his ability to let go and just enjoy the present moment. Check him out below:

Isn't he hysterical? 

And with that, I'm off to enjoy my last full day at the beach. I'm looking forward to taking a long walk by the water and discovering all of the little critters, shells, and plants that the storm washed up...

I hope your Friday (and your weekend) is FULL of simple, sensory joys!