"Coming Down"

I didn't have a camera, so I don't have any pics to contribute, but I like to write, so I thought I'd throw in some of my "Memoirs of Duck". It took a little longer to recover from the high than I thought. Chocolate moose tracks ice cream mixed with peanut butter has been my antidote as well as my mainstay since I’ve been too depressed to go to the grocery store. Maybe I should get a job. :-) The following are my thoughts on Duck …

Being rousted after only 3 hours of sleep by the sound of booming music followed by a loud clanking dinner bell
Eating 3 square gourmet meals a day elbow to elbow with an eclectic mix of strangers turned family from around the US
Starting the party hopping circuit at 10 oclock every night
Running Baywatch style into the chilled Atlantic
Planning to leave for the beach or that party at a certain time and actually leaving with a group 3 hours later
Mobilizing a posse of people to run, walk, skip, and lunge along the quiet beach at dusk
Lathering down the backs of fellow beachgoers
Huddling around a computer watching ridiculous Japanese videos

What was it that created the semi magical sensation during the long weekend on the Outer Banks? Was it the infectiousness of the sunlight? Was it the fineness of the sand between the toes? Was it the thinness of the walls in the house? Was it the briefness of the encounter; everyone leaving their own realities to eat around a table together for 3 days?

What is the explanation? Intellect surely defies it. The heart opens up and enlarges with every conversation, with every laugh, with every hug. For that weekend snap in our lives, there was always someone to talk to. There was always an empty spot on the couch or towel or beach chair. Sometimes understood better than by our own families. We were the same and we belonged. We were finally not lonely.

Will friends be together for eternity?

Back to the real world. Never alone, frequently lonely. Lets stay in touch…