Motherly love – June 19, 2005

MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

Here is perhaps my favorite picture of Shannon and Mark. It’s fuzzy and very poorly lit, but I think it captures the special love that existed between the two of them. Mark just adored her and she him. She adored all of our kids, in fact, and I know the feeling was mutual. Great Art courtesy of my old Minolta camera, taken during the 2005 McCulloch family reunion somewhere in Utah, and part of my famous Shannon and Vacation series.

I had a really nice day today in Puerto Vallarta. The “beach hideaway” excursion was really beautiful. It took about an hour on the tour company’s boat to get over there. The first thing we did was have an unlimited amount of an excellent Mexican lunch buffet and unlimited drinks. Then we were free to wander around their property; which included a “nature” area with a monkey, a parrot, a hawk, and something else I can’t remember; and a very nice little beach with kayaking, tubing, snorkeling, and surfboard paddling. They also had numerous extremely comfortable places to sit and relax, which is what I did all day. I also went swimming briefly. It was beautiful and very relaxing. I went with two people from my dinner table, so it was nice to be there with people I know. Their names are John and Jessica and they’re both really nice.

After we got back to the ship, Jessica and I walked over to the local Walmart and the shopping mall that Shannon and I had visited on our last Mexican cruise. They’re walking distance from the dock. Didn’t see anything I wanted to buy, but it was nice to be there again.

And that’s pretty much my day. Dinner was filet mignon, but it tasted more like a lesser cut of steak. Enjoyed it just fine anyway. My nightly walk around the deck was probably only about ten minutes long. I’m simply exhausted tonight, so I came up to my cabin and sat on the balcony for quite a while instead. It’s also a good place to think, although I think I prefer walking and thinking to sitting and thinking. So I’ll plan to walk again tomorrow night. At any rate, I got to talk to Shannon and report the events of the day. I felt the usual separation sadness, but that was okay. I also felt the usual closeness, which was wonderful. I never want to lose that feeling.

Two more days at sea, and then we’re back to Long Beach on Saturday morning. We’re done with Mexico for this trip.

And I’m so tired I can’t keep my eyes open. So I’ll leave my Loyal Readers with this exciting Morrowlife Employment Agency job opportunity: canine arsonist!

See you tomorrow.

2 Responses to “Motherly love – June 19, 2005”

  1. Andy Says:

    I’m curious about the stand-up paddle boarding. I’m not sure that I personally see the appeal, but when I lived in Heber, the local stand-up paddle board place had them rented out almost all day every day. Sounds like the cruise is great fun!

  2. Andy Says:

    Also, “emergency crews were able to revive the dog with mouth-to-snout resuscitation.” Ew.

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