Thursday, July 28, 2011

Summer vacation leads to valuable insights

This is an excerpt from a longer piece that is published in the July 27 issue of the Clinton Courier. For the complete version, be sure to pick up a copy of the paper - on sale now!

A few weeks ago, my husband and I took our two children to Florida to experience Kennedy Space Center and Disney World for the first time.
We went as guests of my aunt and uncle, who organized the trip with their friends in the Grand Masonic Lodge of New Jersey. My parents came along, too.
In addition to all the fun we had, we treasured the time we spent with my family and it was good to take a break from our everyday worries and our daily routine. 
And I also managed to learn a few things along the way:
            It’s hot in Florida in the summer. 
            While I had some inkling that the weather would be warm on our trip, I didn't experience the true meaning of heat and humidity until the first day there.
            We stood in line in the direct sun for an hour and ten minutes just for the privilege of paying $164 to enter Kennedy Space Center. Once we got past the admission desk, we got to wait in even more lines.
            We sweat in places we didn’t know sweat could come from. And we stood in the short line.
            Before we left, everyone warned us it would be hot, but somehow I filed that fact away in the back of my brain, refusing to acknowledge it.
            Now that I think about it, I seem to have a habit of forgetting other helpful warnings.
            The night after our daughter was born the nurse in the hospital brought her into our room screaming at 3 a.m., telling me it was time to feed her.
            I was incredulous. Babies have to eat? At night? Can't she wait until it's at least light outside?