In Which I Escape

My goodness, I've been neglecting you, blog.  To be honest, I haven't done a ton of exploring for a bit, mostly because I was feeling suffocated by the mountains.  I had a yen for the ocean, so last weekend I escaped to North Carolina.

There were endless beaches.

Ice cold surf.

Scrubby dunes.

Gorgeous little girls.

Gorgeous bigger girls.

Fiddler.

Baxter and Howard.

Spencer.

Oh, my heart, Tripp.

Markets.

And Mama.

Just like that, my soul was restored.

Also helpful:
Beloved bookshops
Familiar thifting stomping grounds
A salt water pool in the back yard
Ice cream shops on the waterfront

I thought that it would be hard, this trip, because my dad, brother, and our dogs wouldn't be there.  I almost didn't go.  But I needed an escape, and the result surprised me.  I lived in my aunt's beach home all last summer, and somehow being back felt more like coming home than my last actual visit home did.  My heart laid claim to this place, in an odd and wonderful way.