Saturday Shouts Outs- Old Friends Edition!

A week ago today I was waking up after a raucous night of food and fun at Ocean Isle Beach with many of my favorite people in the world, friends dating back to our childhoods- which you may know in my case was not a recent event! There had been a meal of Mexican Pile-Up, great desserts and a few adult beverages. A tense, hilarious males vs. females game of Catchphrase had completed the night, scarring some of us for life. That night was made special by the presence of our dear friend Lisa Moran, who had come down for just the one night. The entire 5 days the group spent together were a riot of laughter and love. Today, I want to share with you some of the moments that are still making me smile. It's a special reunion edition of my Saturday Shout Outs!

• After a bit of prodding from my old pal Martha Ratledge Farlow, we broke into the Fig Newton Song (and dance) in the parking lot of a restaurant on Saturday night. Don't know the song? See it here ---->  Hit it Hal!!!  
• During the Catchphrase game, my lovely wife Marilyn got the phrase "Pull it off." To demonstrate, she began pulling on her top. As time ticked down and she became more desperate, she pulled harder. We all became concerned that she was about to strip, but fortunately it never reached that point. Although Steve Semmler was a little disappointed.
• Carl Semmler brought a pound cake he made from his mother's classic recipe. Instead of keeping it with the desserts, it was kept with the breakfast foods, and many of us cut slices for our morning meal. Since eating cake for breakfast is frowned upon, the slices were referred to as Square Doughnuts. I miss them terribly...
• Ever feel like telling someone they are full of crap? Chuck Foster gave us a much more subtle line to use- "You are a landfill of useless information." Too good.
• We ate at Calabash on Thursday night, shutting down Captain John's. Literally. They turned off the lights as soon as we were out the door. Many, many hushpuppies gave their lives that night...
• While trying to get the other women to guess the word "burp" while playing Catchphrase, Beth Vestal McGalliard became so animated that she fell off the stool she was sitting on...backwards. Fifteen minutes later, after the howls of laughter ceased, Rob Mitchell finally asked if she was OK. She was. So we laughed some more!
• Tammy Foster really wanted us to play guitars and sing. So much so that after we failed to do so by Saturday afternoon she got the guitars out herself and handed them to us. We still tried really hard to not do anything, but Tammy was relentless. Finally Chuck and I played a few things, singing Wild Thing to Beth and a few of my old silly songs. It was fun. And Tammy is scary! And maybe a little mean...#NoFilter  :)
• Each time we traveled during the week those of us in Condo 103 all rode in Tim & Allison Vail's van. The 6 of us were a team, united in our efforts when grocery shopping and other efforts. Condo 101 always took separate vehicles. So clearly we were the better condo. That just needed to be said.
• Lisa Ramos Moran played Catchphrase right along with us, and at one point she was giving clues for the phrase "soul mate." She said it was 2 words you might use as term of endearment for your partner, and Denise May Langley blurted out this guess- Spousal Unit.  Truth is stranger than fiction.
• Carl S. was trying to get the guys to guess the song title "Jailhouse Rock" and gave the clues an Elvis song about prison. Martha, who was supposed to be quiet since she was on the other team, guessed Love Me Tender. That's just wrong on so many levels...
• Several people brought photo albums full of fun (if a bit horrifying) pictures from our younger days together. As Andy Maynard remarked on Saturday night, this group has known each other a VERY long time. And as much as we have all changed, our relationships are still pretty much the same. So much fun to be with that group, even if it did take us 5 days instead of 5 minutes to polish off a bag of Sweet 16 Powdered Sugar Doughnuts. Age has its price.  :)
• And finally (or this could go on for hours)...during the game Friday night I was sitting on a sofa with Denise and Steve. Something happened and I reached out to give an "air" high five to Martha across the room. At that instant, the couch collapsed under us, leaving us startled and the rest of the room rolling on the floor laughing. We were troopers however, continuing to sit there for the rest of the game. Of course, I took  most of the blame, being the largest and also having moved slightly just before the event. Denise was clearly an innocent victim, having been brave enough to sit with us in the first place. But after discussion with the sofa owners, Beth & Bob McGalliard, we discovered they had been expecting it to happen (So the lawsuit is pending. WHIPLASH!). We also agreed it was Steve's fault. It's always the pretty ones!

I hope this gives you a little taste of what it was like for me to hang out with people who have been special to me for 43 years now. I miss them already, and look forward to doing it again next year. And in case you are wondering, 2 updates- the game ended in a tie and the couch was saved and is still in use. Have a great weekend!

"Enjoy every sandwich."

Beach Playlist

After another late, laughter filled night at Ocean Isle Beach with some of my favorite people in the world I find myself up early this morning gazing out at the ocean and listening to music. What has popped up so far on this Beach Playlist? I'm so glad you asked...

1. When I See You Smile - John Waite
2. Keep Me In Your Heart - Warren Zevon
3. Don't Expect Me To Be Your Friend - Lobo
4. Only With You - The Beach Boys
5. She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5
6. Everything I Own - Bread
7. Stealaway - Poco
8. Missing You - Dan Fogelberg
9. The One I Love - R.E.M.
10. Homegrown Honey - Darius Rucker

That's what is playing in my world this morning. Have a blessed Saturday, my friends.

"Enjoy every sandwich"

Sunscreen & the #NarrowRoad

When my friends and I were teenagers and young adults there was nothing better than trips to the beach or hanging out by a pool once summer arrived in North Carolina. While me and my buddies interest was always in the closest body of water (or other "bodies" that might be a part of the local scenery!) my future wife and most of the other females we knew- as well as a few of the guys- were always more interested in "laying out." This was the common 1970s term for sunbathing, and it was both an art and a discipline. Sun worshippers would drag towels, chairs, boomboxes, books, coolers and assorted snacks down to the beach at 10 am, staking out a prime spot in the sun. Take notice now- there were NO umbrellas on the supply list! They would dress in bikinis that covered as little skin as possible and would apply the necessary lotions for being out in the sun. For my wife and many, many others this included tanning oils (SPF -100) to attract the blistering rays of the sun to their skin. It also included something called Sun In that was put in your hair to help the sun lighten the color. Properly prepared, they would then assume the position, laying on a towel on in a reclined chair for the next 6 hours or so. They would periodically flip over to "even out" the tan. While on their stomachs the women would undo the straps of their bikini tops so there would be no tan lines. And every so often they would wander down and splash themselves with water- or on really hot days even jump in for a while. But then it was back to the beach, hoping beyond hope to attract more ultraviolet rays and end the day with darker skin than the person lying next to them. It was ritual. It was normal. And as we know now, it was insane...

Sunbathing still exists, but it is radically different now and has been for many years. We discovered that too much direct exposure to the sun can cause cancer, damage skin and create a variety of other problems. Now we expose ourselves for shorter periods of time. We use sunblocks and sunscreens instead of tanning oils, sometimes with so much SPF that laser beams could not penetrate and reach our skin! And we carry umbrellas in our supplies when we spend a day on the beach. My wife, one of the darkest tanning sun worshippers of the 70s and early 80s, now has enough high protection lotions and sprays to stock a Walmart, and she makes certain that everyone is always covered. The patterns of "laying out" have changed dramatically, not because anyone wanted them to but because the passage of time gave us new information and directed us in new ways. Marilyn still loves to bake in the sun all day turning as brown as possible. She just has to approach it an entirely different way than before.

So what do sunbathing and bikinis have to with the #NarrowRoad? Just this- life is constantly changing. Our hopes, our dreams, our flaws and our gifts are always evolving. We can acknowledge this and make the changes that help us discover what Jesus has in store for our lives or we can fight the change because it makes us uncomfortable. We can go on believing that we know what is best for us, not Jesus. And we can find ourselves with leathery brown spiritual skin, ruined by the summer sun, all because we refused to listen and wouldn't deal with change. Jesus is the same now and forever. Almost nothing else is. The things we believe, and the way we put those beliefs into practice, should evolve. I look at myself at age 55 and praise God that I don't see faith, life or relationships the same way I did when I was 30. We need to learn. We need to accept new truths. And we need to let go of the bad ideas we once accepted as the truth. It's called growth. And it's a very good thing.

So what is this week's sign on the #NarrowRoad? Danger: Detour Ahead. Prepare to go a new way! And be sure to wear plenty of sunscreen. 

Because of Jesus,