One of Daughter's days when we were at the mall, I convinced her we should get massages at the Chinese massage place. I got us both 20 minute chair massages. Working that day were a woman and a man. The woman took me and the man took Daughter. I realized part way through that was probably not a good idea. Sure enough, when we were done, Daughter was furious. "That man was touching my a**!" We were side by side, out in the open, so I know nothing improper happened. I also know that any touch to certain areas of her body are very difficult for Daughter. I tried to hide my amusement from Daughter, as I know for her it was really was distressing. But the way she was saying it was rather amusing. She normally doesn't use that type of language.
We did a couple of short hikes, but they were all relatively close by and none led to spectacular overlooks. I didn't want to do the driving, and I was trying to avoid the crowds,as there was a big festival in the area that had attracted lots of tourists. The more popular hiking spots would have required longer travel through more traffic.
Vacations can be challenging, as I want to go be away from people and rest. Daughter isn't thrilled with the outdoors, and wants to be around people and shop and go to movies. She loves the crowds I hate. Obviously, on rainy days or days when it's extremely hot, we seek out things to do indoors, which thrills Daughter. We didn't even take any of our scenic drives this year. What I did do, which was helpful, was read. After Daughter went to bed for the night, I sat by the campfire with my Kindle and read. I finished Barbara Brown Taylor's new book, "Learning to Walk in the Dark," which I really enjoyed. I also spent some time with my journal. One of the things I was pondering was my level of exhaustion. I began lists of the the things that energize me and the things that drain me. My goal is to do a better job of balancing those things. One of the things I realized is that having a messy house is exhausting for me. I'm going to work to get it in shape before I start back to work next week and then make keeping it clean a priority.
We had one night when it poured rain. Some friends from church were camping there,and offered us shelter in their camper. Daughter wanted to accept their offer, but I declined. She cried when we got back to our campsite, and I think had some genuine fear about being in our tent during the rain. I went to bed at the same time, and assured her we were safe. Our tent stayed dry, but everything in our screen house got wet. I'm pondering replacing the screen house before next year. It is old and is a real challenge to set up and take down each year. The roof has sprung a number of leaks, which limits its usefulness. Initial research online has been disappointing, but I will continue to look.
Today I have designated a lazy day. I'm hoping the grass will dry enough that I can mow it this afternoon. It rained this morning. It was weird-- after getting used to the sound of rain on the tent, I didn't recognize it initially on the roof. I guess I haven't adjusted completely to being back home.
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