Are you back from that amazing summer vacation yet?

Yes, I’m talking to *you*.  I see you there on Facebook…the ones posting the photos from Cozumel and Jamaica; North Carolina and Florida; Colorado and the Grand Canyon. Or those who took mini-vacations, just a short distance away from home. And *you* who spent precious time with aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents…HOORAY!

I also took a trip–actually, I took two, and I am back–Ireland and England, then Bardstown, Kentucky. More on those another time.

The important thing is….what did you bring back?  No, I don’t mean the T-shirts, or the sea-shells, or the other souvenir “stuff”. What memories did you make? Did you bring back the peace and quiet that comes with watching a sunset? Did you bring back the joy that comes from a long talk with a relative? Did you bring back the memory of laughter with a new baby nephew, niece, or cousin in the family? Did you wander a beach and taste the salt air, or hike a mountain trail for hours?

Yes, I brought back candy, coasters from pubs I visited, and books; but I also brought back the memory of original music echoing off ancient stones in a town square. I brought back the joy of a long conversation in a pub, and when we realized what time it was…it was closing time. John and I brought back bourbon from Bardstown, but we also brought back the memory of delightful meals, savored in a mom-and-pop restaurant, where time goes a lot slower.

Time. That’s what our trips can give us.  Let go of the frantic. Let go of the need to screech along at warp speed. Once the work day is done (and those work days are manic!!),  sit out on the deck or patio, with a favorite beverage and a before-dinner snack. Savor that time. Take a mini-vacation, right then and there. That time belongs to you. Remember what you loved about that trip, and relive it. Watch the sun set. Watch the neighbors walk their dogs, and the neighborhood kids ride their bikes. Listen to the birds.  Read a chapter in a new book.

Hold fast to the peace a vacation trip gives you, and let it carry you until you can take your next one.