Waters edge

I had the grandkids in the truck with me as we crossed the Red River between Alexandria and Pineville, when I heard the older exclaim to the younger "Look, that river is as big as the whole ocean." I had to smile, then ponder that at ages 4 and 7, their education has been neglected. They need to see the ocean.

PawPaw will be proud to show it to them. Leastways, the Gulf of Mexico, which is within striking distance of a weekend jaunt. Drive down on Friday, come back on Sunday, it's workable. I like going to the shore once a year or so, to recharge the batteries and see what's cracking down on the coast. The recovery from Katrina continues on the Mississippi and Alabama coast, slowly. I don't know if you can see progress every day, but you can certainly see progress on a yearly jaunt.

Of course, there's seafood and Milady will probably take a chance in one of the casinos. Pawpaw likes to sit and ponder life while listening to the waves. The tinkling of ice in a glass, the darkness on the water and the sound of a rising tide help me to recover from the stress of daily life.

PawPaw hisself is generally of the opinion that when life crawled up out of the ocean and lay gasping on the beach, the more intelligent of those life forms took a minute to catch their breath in new lungs, then immediately headed inland. Those forms of lesser intelligence stayed at the waters edge, and you can see their descendants still there today.

Still, a trip to the beach is educational and relaxing. We'll have to schedule something for late May or early June. I've asked Milady to give me a list of weekends when she'll be available. She has told me that she'll have it by later this afternoon.