A day at the beach

We just got back from three and a half glorious days on South Padre Island. Nothing recharges a burned-out, stressed-out psyche like a couple of days of sitting on your beach chairs, toes wriggling in sand, reading a book, listening to those roaring waves. Or simply staring out at them. For what seems like hours. Why does time move slower once you really begin to let go of all of that stress? It took me a full 24 hours before I could feel it draining out of me. But then it seemed like three hours turned into eight. I could really swear that we've been there over a week. What can we do to recreate this feeling now that we are back in the mad-paced reality we live in today? Probably nothing. That's why we go on vacations. I'm short of vacation time this year, so we can't do another long one like this. But maybe a three-day weekend every now and again, just to get a quick fix of salt smell and sea breeze.