The Vacation from the Vacation

The whole idea of a vacation is taking a break from the monotony of everyday life, and doing something a little different to slow down a little and do some of those things we don't have time for. That being said, I've been on a vacation for a few months, but am currently on a vacation from my vacation with my family in Florida.

For those who don't know, I lived in the Sunshine state for about 2.5 years during my undergrad days. I wasn't exactly an honor roll student in High School, and I bounced around at the University of Tampa and University of Miami before landing at DePaul in Chicago. I got to see most of Florida from Miami up through Tallahassee, but never went to the Panhandle, which is where I'm on vacation with my family.

We're located in a vacation community about halfway between Panama City and Pensacola, along the Gulf of Mexico. Technically, I think its Walton County we're in, and it reminds me of some of those sleepy beach towns you find along the Carolinas. If you're curious, here's a link to where we're staying; highly recommended if you'd like to get to warm weather but don't want to deal with the Miami/Ft Lauderdale ratrace. Given the year the family has had, its nice for us all to get away together, and we're behaving ourselves without getting in to the petty spats we endured as young kids on family vacations.

I've mentioned this before, but I think weather is a lame topic to talk about. For starters, no one really gives a shit. Well, maybe you do if you're Tom Skilling, or that guy from the Weather Channel who chases Hurricanes, but most of the world doesn't care what the weather is like in another part of the country. But if you're curious, its hot down here. It hasn't stopped me from getting out the golf course, and I've played a few crappy rounds of golf at two really nice golf courses.

But the real fun has been seeing my sister's kids, who I'm living with up in Chicago, and how much fun they're having down here. My niece has loved the water, the beach, and especially the bunk beds in their rental house. While my nephew went crazy for all of the interesting planes, trucks, cars, and other moving machines during our trip down here. Of course, there's been other highlights they'd tell me if I were to interview them, but I'm trying to keep them out of the spotlight.

One funny moment for me came tonight, after I had kind of a shitty day on the golf course and an overall mediocre day. Super hot weather has some challenges for me that are somewhat unique, and those challenges can be a serious pain in the ass.

But anyhow, my sister and the kids were hanging around after dinner when I flipped on Star Wars (episode IV for the Star Wars fans out there), and it was a blast watching it with them. The plot is a little advanced for them, so that meant Uncledaniel (or Dango as my nephew calls me) had to answer a bunch of questions about characters, a few of which I've listed below. Most of these came from my niece, my nephew just likes Chewbacka and the space ships.

• Why is Darth Vadar so angry with Luke and Han Solo?
• Why does Darth Vadar breath so funny?
• Do Storm troopers ever talk? What about nod their heads? How does Darth Vadar know they've heard him?
  
• How is Princess Leia from another planet?
• How do they know what the robot (R2D2) is saying?
• What is the force?
• Why are there so many commercials?
  
• How come Luke is the only one who has the force? Why doesn't Han Solo have it?
• Why does C3PO talk so much?
  
• What does it mean that Luke is Leia's sister?
• What is Chewbacka? How do they know what he's saying?

I did my best to answer these as best I could, but the toughest one was about the Force. I seem to have a knack for explaining some complicated things to them at least to give them an answer that makes sense, but this one I struggled with. Mainly because some folks use the force for good things, while others use it for bad things and that is a tricky concept for a 5 year old. Ultimately, I settled on something about superpowers and the ability to do things others can't, but kids are great at asking some very simple questions that have complicated answers...and they're also really good at putting a smile on your face when you need one. So thanks Wango and Maddog.