SPI: It's All Good

After reading all the bummer stuff about politics, wars, environmental disasters, casinos, beach disasters, and rampant development, it is easy to see how one could be labeled as being “negative.” So maybe it’s high time to accentuate the positive.

We just had another crop of visitors up for last week’s kite festival and let me tell you, these guys in their 40‘s and 50’s had a blast. I don’t think we ever had company when they had a bad time, come to think of it now. After about two days you can see the stress just melt away from their bodies. That’s why I always recommend more than two days, since it takes that long to decompress from that Big City life.

And why some people say there’s nothing to do on the Island seem rather strange to me. Never have I had folks complete their whole list of things to do. And one day when it rained right after Sand Castle Days a fellow from San Marcos said “you know, just watching the wind, waves, and rain on the beach, right from the condo sliding glass door, was just perfect – probably with the best nap of my life!”

Now let me tell you the only drawback about being a consultant working on the Island. I could work anywhere but this place is really great … except when the water calls. I have a view from my “office” porch and I can tell when it is time to hit the surf, wet a fishing line, check out the birds and butterflies, or go fly a kite. Of course, as anyone in the consulting trade knows, this always happens when the work is loaded up to the rafters. Why don’t they call when it is miserable outside? But not to fear, I just burn a little of the midnight oil because you just can’t keep this old dog off the water.

And the neatest thing is that Island has possibly the nicest people in the world. I never would have given a thought to becoming involved in community projects up near Austin. Those folks were political hacks, cold and calculating, and nobody ever said so much as hello on the streets (except for some wonderful neighbors who we still love). Next thing you know I’m on a town committee, doing historical preservation, going to fundraisers of at least a dozen kinds, and doing crazy stuff like planting butterfly gardens. Normally I’m not even close to being a “joiner.” Who would have thunk it?

There is so much to do, and I still want to build a surf boat dory. I’m home.