Watercolor, Florida

Let me just say - WOW.  We had a graciously free place to stay this past weekend in Watercolor, Florida.  And even though we couldn't stay but just over 36 hours, we went anyway.  And it was so incredible.  The cold front had just passed through, so the weather was cool and sunny and so beautiful.  There were butterflies EVERYwhere.  We spent a couple of hours on the tennis court on Saturday morning, and it felt like a Disney movie.  Lepidoptera would have been in love.  Every couple of minutes, we'd have a "bluhbluhbly" (as Tooter says) fly past our heads.


It's a quiet, family oriented resort area and thanks to Jennifer and David, we were given a beautiful place to stay.  Lots of "natural Florida" landscaping to enjoy, as my friend Patty called it - and she was right.  Even though the houses are up close to each other, you still feel like you have a ton of room.  It adjoins Seaside, Florida but has a completely different feel - not that there's anything wrong with Seaside, mind you.  But Watercolor had a homey feel that was sooooo relaxing to us.  Believe it or not, I didn't check my email a single time.  Didn't think about politics one single time.  (until I saw a stupid commercial on t.v. accidentally on Saturday night while the baseball game was on).  I was so relaxed.  We rode bikes all over the place.  Riding bikes in the middle of the day thru a gravel lined, tree bordered pathway on your way to the beach will make you feel like a kid again.  I guarantee you.  Even if you're pulling a trailer with your 2 year old in the back, you will feel like an absolute kid again!  You felt so safe, even though you didn't actually see security anywhere.  The landscaping was pristine, even though you didn't actually see anyone working on it.


I would post pictures, but unfortunately, we've had a computer catastrophe.  For some unknown reason, EVERY SINGLE PICTURE in the "My Pictures" folder has simply disappeared.  Because I have unwisely not backed up since May, I have lost months of pictures.  Including every picture that was taken during the photo session on the beach on Saturday afternoon.  I have no idea what happened, and right now, no one else does either.  I'm absolutely sick about it.  My brother David tried to talk me thru some things, but he wasn't familiar with this.  My other brother Darrell (kidding - it's Robert) is going to try some recovery things tomorrow, but the weirdness of all this doesn't make me very hopeful.  They aren't deleted.  They weren't accidentally moved.  They aren't hidden files of some sort.  It's as though they were abducted by aliens.  I dunno......  Robert will do his best.  He can do as much, if not more, than Geek Squad, so if he recovers these things, we will owe him BIG time.  And if he can't, I'll know that they aren't recoverable.  I'm just sick about it.

I'm trying to keep perspective - because I'm sure if I walked into a children's hospital right now, I'd be reminded that I have what's important.  And the pictures aren't it.  But all of Poodle's bday pictures are gone too.  All of June thru now.  ::exhale::  My stomach is literally in knots.


Anyway - being at Watercolor during the off season was so nice.  I mean, I've not been during the "on season", but I can say that it seemed very uncrowded and soooo unhurried.  I think, though, that the unhurried thing is all year round.  I would say that being able to be there for a week would be better.  Spend a day getting lost on your bike.  Spend a day getting lost walking around.  Spend a day on a boat fishing.  Spend parts of every day enjoying the soft white beaches that are the stopping point of clear turquoise waters.  It was extraordinary.  God's beauty and creativity abundant.  And a reminder that man is nothing compared to HIM.

I hope the picture thing works out.  I won't put any of the pictures that are still on the small digital camera on the computer until something is worked out.  Until then, I'll just assure you that we were pampered this past weekend.  And I sure did enjoy it!!

And if anyone knows anything about Windows XP causing files to disappear, we'll take all advice.