Sun, Sand and Sea

"O yellow eye,
let me be sick with your heat,
let me be feverish and frowning."
-Anne Sexton

I was watching Dr. Oz yesterday when he was speaking of the four instinctive cravings that human beings have - food, water, sex and sleep. He suggested that often people try to sate their desire for water, sex or sleep by eating. I can understand that. When struggling while dieting I always try to drink before I give into a sweet craving just to be sure I'm not confusing hunger with thirst. I'm very aware that I easily confuse hunger with fatigue. There is one big craving that I have though that isn't on Dr. Oz's list and lately I've been fighting with the urge to eat whole tins of chocolate coated biscuits to try to fill the void. I'm craving the feel of sun on my skin.

It is an odd thing in the mildest winter I can ever recall, that I'm having so much difficulty muddling through these February days. Clearly the problem isn't with snow or frigid temperatures as we really haven't had much of either. Yet I'm desperate for the heat on my shoulders, the feeling of sand under my feet and the sound of waves crashing against the beach. So on February 28, Merv and I will head off for a week in Aruba.

It will be a little odd having a sun and sea vacation without Jacob. We've had one as a family every March since Jacob was six years old. We've been to Mexico, Cuba, The Dominican Republic and Venezuela multiple times. Last March we spent two weeks in Hawaii. I've taken Jacob to Nassau and Merv and I honeymooned in St. Kitts and Nevis. We've also been to Grand Cayman and Jamaica. But neither of us have ever been to Aruba.

I hear there isn't much to do or see in Aruba. It is a small island, only 70 square kilometers of total space. I could walk from one end of Aruba and back to the other and still only have walked two thirds as far as I will walk in September on the Weekend to End Women's Cancers. Amazing. But we're not going there for the sightseeing. We're going for the beach and I hear it is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Works for me.