Sitting in the morning sun
I'll be sitting when the evening comes
Watching the ships roll in
And I watch 'em roll away again
Sitting on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
I'm just sitting on the dock of the bay
Wasting time
- Otis Reading
We've just spent a fantastic two weeks at Willoughby Bay, at a great little house with its own dock, which unfortunately for my family means I can't help but sing a bit of Otis Reading every morning. After the initial flurry of travel when we arrived in the US it's been great to stop and stay in one place and chill for a bit.
We've done quite a bit of yoga, reading and going to the beach. However we have discovered that these things are not as relaxed or zen-like as they sound with the small persons around.... but you trade all that boring old hum drum for a whole heap of fun and silliness.
Yoga with two toddlers in the room goes something like this: "Hahahaha downward dog, Mummy I can do that one standing on my head!". Meanwhile the one year old is climbing on your back while you attempt the plank, and then they each take turns at trying to roll under your legs. Hilarious I know! This pretty much continues for the full yoga session.
Reading, well I wasn't talking about reading novels, (who has time for that!?), but we have covered a lot of ground as far as Peppa Pig and Hairy Maclary are concerned.
And the beach is an awesome scene of splashing and sandcastles, but do not expect to sit down for more than 60 seconds on any given visit.
So, fun and laughs are in. Relaxed vege-ing is out.
Looking across the bay from our little dock is the monstrous Norfolk Naval Station. Wikipedia reliably informs me that this is the "world's largest naval station, supporting 75 ships and 134 aircraft alongside 14 piers and 11 aircraft hangars". So quite obviously, sitting on the dock of this bay is not as peaceful as you might expect. There is a constant line up of entertainment provided by Black Hawks doing rescue drills, (Geek-Daddy has just told me that the naval version is actually the Sea Hawk), P-3 Orion aircraft flyovers and a couple of good old fashioned Hercules to add into the mix.
So here's what I think.
Sometimes things are not what you expect. Sometimes they turn out to be the exact opposite of what you expect. But sometimes this turns out to be more restorative and therapeutic than your highest expectations.
Ok, gotta get back to sitting on the dock of the bay, I think a couple of Sea Hawks are coming in to land...
