Phone Calls

I am not a phone person. I cannot hear well on those things, and I cannot see the other person's face or body language, and I do not have the luxury of thinking awhile before responding. AND with the advent of cell phones I tend to completely cut off the sound when I do speak because so often I begin at the same time the other person talks. Don't like phones.

(Email rocks. I'm much better at email. Not texting. Email.)

Which is why this past week has been so surprising... I look forward to answering my cell phone every single day. Mariel is on a three-week trip with her grandparents, touring the southern/eastern U.S. and then taking a cruise to the Caribbean, and she has been calling us regularly to share tidbits of her adventures.

Here, as I can remember them, are her updates:

West Monroe, LA-- "We're trying to outrun the snow! Goggy keeps arguing with the GPS. We ate dinner with friends, and they have the broadest southern accents you ever heard. They are AWESOME."

Tuscaloosa, AL-- "Well, the snow caught up with us. But, guess what? We rode in a sleigh all over the farm in the DARK, and this morning I am sitting in a theater with a real red velvet curtain... we are going to see Charlotte's Web."

Calabash, NC-- "I'm relaxing with Grammy. Everyone relaxes in the evenings and I read books or look at videos of Redwall. I got to drive a GOLF CART!"

Charleston, SC-- "Guess where I'm sitting? In a horse-drawn carriage! We're going to tour the city in it!"

Later-- "Guess what I found? The Atlantic Ocean... and I'm going to swim in it!"

Later-- "Guess where I am? In a boat! And guess where the boat is?" (Charleston?) "Charleston's on the LAND. I'm on the Atlantic Ocean!"

Later-- "Mom, you know Edgar Allen Poe? Well, we drove past the graveyard where Annabel Lee is buried!"

St. Augustine, FL-- "St. Augustine is the oldest city in the United States! We're waiting for the trolley in the rain."

Later-- "Mom, guess what? I saw the oldest house in the whole U.S.! It's built with this stuff made out of seashells mixed with sand, I think. The streets of St. Augustine are very narrow, and are covered with tiny seashells. St. Augustine is beautiful!"

Tampa, FL-- "We have a suite with a balcony and an ocean view! It has a room for Goggy and Grammy, and bunkbeds for me, and a kitchen and a sitting area. Tomorrow we are going to Busch Gardens!"

I love that girl. Her calls are an exotic ray of sunshine beaming into our everyday activities. She is having so much fun. The Caribbean portion of her trip begins this weekend.