A Seagrove Thanksgiving

Moments ago, I experienced a tragic data loss in transferring photos from my iPhone to my computer. I guess nothing better was to be expected, since the trip started off with my forgetting my camera -- an unforgivable failure. The photos posted here are the few that survived iPhoto's latest travesty. They may or may not be misrepresenting the order of events. For instance, the picture at left was taken on the flight home.

Ahem.

We, on analyzing the forecast for Thanksgiving Day, decided to skip town early and, when I had succeeded in attending the appointments I'd made for my "two" days in Tulsa, we all converged on the airport and took off for Florida.

The way out of town was bumpy, and we were cutting through alternating clouds and clear sky all the way up to 10,000 feet. Each time we broke through the clouds, we were surrounded by towers of cloud. It was cavernous. Water streaming over the windshield and the wings from the condensation in the clouds. I couldn't have been happier, but there were those among the passengers who prefer not to fly in the clouds.

The rest of the flight was relatively uneventful ("uneventful" in that we didn't die, but ask me for details -- they're good), and I was able to read a book for class and take a short nap while Dad did the flying. We landed just after dark at Panama City and took the rental car toward Seagrove, stopping for groceries. Mom had transported most of the essentials -- like the cranberry salad and the Almost Derby pie.

We went in search of food, and I ate some shrimp scampi at a restaurant that might have just been called The Fish House. We found our lodging, unpacked, and made a second, emergency run to the grocery store before it closed for the holiday.

The next morning, we walked to the beach. It was, of course, beautiful. When the sun was out, it wasn't too cold to walk barefoot or to go wading. Dad actually got in -- and I had photographic evidence! (You suck, iPhoto.) This photo was taken post-swim.

The days passed in a haze of cooked meals, beach walks and, for me, homework. I wrote a paper and read a few books and plays and papers. I didn't get enough done. Not nearly enough.

Thanksgiving was great. I wrote a paper for History of Science most of the day, and finished just in time to eat. We had made and transported Ancient Indian Noodles (you can see my post about Thanksgiving last year for more information on that), which was pretty much the most important part. It can't be Thanksgiving without the noodles.

On Friday night, Dad and I walked to the beach and stood on the stairs overlooking the beach for a few minutes, just in time to see some people setting up for a wedding. We walked down and stood in the sand and watched. I took off my shoes, because wearing shoes in the sand feels really inappropriate, even though it was chilly. The storm was rolling in over the Gulf, though all the clouds tended to dissipate as soon as they reached the shore. We kept our distance and watched the wedding, noting that one of the bridesmaids ran up the dune and returned, moments later, with the bouquet clutched in her hands. It was an interesting thing to watch, and I decided that beach weddings should always be conducted in such conditions. The beach was empty -- there was no one to gawk or make noise or hurl a football into the wedding party. And it was beautiful.

Saturday was for homework, beaching, and the Bedlam game. I really enjoyed the match, for all that I was on the verge of heart attack the whole game through. The fourth quarter brought us four alternating touchdowns in under two minutes of play, leading to an onside kick by OSU that was recovered by Ryan Broyles before the clock ran out and we managed a victory. Of course, no one in Florida cared about this, though they'd been riotously enthusiastic about the Alabama-Auburn game the night before.

Sunday morning, we flew back to Tulsa. The weather was much less interesting on the way back, and I read Seneca in the right seat most of the way home.