My first vacation in 3 years. I need more vacations.

The next time I decide vacations aren't important, I need to find this post and read it. Five days of beach camping has set me to rights in a way that I could not have anticipated. Part of it was the truly wonderful group of people I had the good fortune to be camping with, who made all the other things possible.

We were at First Landing State Park, which is on the bay and lovely. We had mimosas, coffee, bacon and eggs for breakfast, assorted delicious things for lunch, and grilled things for dinner. Burgers, hot dogs, bratwurst, beans, veggies, smores. I felt like I was eating happiness. Normally the feelings I eat are less positive.

There were some games, the beach every day, sand burying, mud throwing, a bamboo and towel lean-to - even dolphins. Yes, dolphins. And we were there for the earthquake, lying in the low wet sand and it turned into jello under us.

At night we sang around the campfire, talked through whatever ailed us, and then slept under the stars.

I feel like I found my self again. The trip was amazing, but these people were special. They were so positive and supportive of each other and of me. Each person was interesting and unusual and contributed something different to our vacation. And I felt like I contributed. I had something to offer and it's amazing how good that felt all by itself.

I also didn't shower for 5 days, wore no make-up, wore shorts and let my legs breathe, and wore cargo shorts and a madras button up for days. Forgetting about the unimportant things let me focus on the important ones for a few days. I need to remember to take vacations.

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