Too Much of a Good Thing

A pile of old photos lay in heaps on my bedside table.  Some slip out of album pages where sticky backing tape once held them in place.  Some are so discolored, people look like purple shadows.  A project of this size fits right in to my life now since I can’t be on my feet much after foot surgery three weeks ago.  I’ve got another three weeks of rest so I’ll work on things which keep my foot elevated and my mind active.  Things like shredding sensitive files, reading, creating greeting cards, and reorganizing years of photos.  My children laugh at my pictures with mile high hairdos, outdated clothing styles and fun memories of their earlier years!  Bulging bags of photos sit ready to distribute to my girls, my siblings, and my niece.  These wonderful memories of family gatherings, past Christmas times, and travel provide an incredible high for me during recovery. 

Photos tell stories.  The album currently on my lap dates back to 1995.  Tom and I decided to get away to Mexico.  Our youngest, a junior in high school at that time, studied like crazy to earn a scholarship as she dreamed of college life.  Our oldest attended nursing school, and worked to save for her upcoming wedding.  It was the time in our lives when our self-sufficient daughters managed well on their own and we took off to have fun. 

Close friends joined us and we three couples boarded a plane from Phoenix, Arizona to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  We stayed in a posh hotel on the ocean, and enjoyed boating, scuba diving, dinner and dancing as well as sightseeing. 

I can still taste the salty bacon in my breakfast egg dish the morning we stopped to eat in a cute little outdoor café we discovered in town.  One of the guys, Robert, and I ordered a bacon omelet.  I remember how we all strolled through the stores after breakfast.  I asked him, “Hey, Robert, was your omelet filled with more bacon than eggs?”  He replied:  “Yes!  Seemed like bacon overkill!” 

Funny how those first few bites of the omelet tasted divine but about six bites later, it almost annoyed me.  Sometimes too much of a good thing leaves a bad taste in the mouth.  Excessiveness!

Currently, I’m studying the books of Numbers and Exodus with a few girlfriends on line. The lessons ring true of our human nature to complain.  God provided manna in the wilderness, yet the children of Israel wanted quail.  They got it alright, until they were up to their ears in it!  With them it's quail; with me it's bacon!  When it comes to excessiveness, I think of a saying my Tom especially likes:  “I pity the man that is so poor that all he has is money.”  Isn’t that profound?  It makes one think. 

I had to look up the word satiety when I read a quote by Hryboril Skovoroda.  It means indulgence.   “Satiety follows excessiveness; boredom follows the satiety.  Both lead to mental illness.”  Do you agree?  The quote seems, well, a little excessive!

I like this quote by Gary Zukav:

Looking back through the old 1995 album today reminded me of the beautiful paradise in Mexico I have treasured over the years we stayed there.  Indeed, Puerto Vallarta is our happy place.  There are lots of memories I could write about as I flip the pages of these old photo albums.  You just may see more of me in the coming days.  I may write about special memories these old photos document. This blog is, in fact, dedicated to my children.  You never know; my scripted words may catch their eye someday and they will understand what their mother cultivated and felt.