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New post from missionary Erin Mackenzie

New post from missionary Erin Mackenzie


Vitamin Sea

Posted: 13 Jul 2020 09:04 AM PDT

At one time, I was considering making a packing list template in Excel that I could print 4 or 6 to a page and use instead of scrawling the same items on a Post-It note whenever I travel. Before I could get around to it, though, enter my longest (I think…I’d have to verify) stretch without leaving Santiago…until Friday.  
This weekend’s getaway to the north coast was perhaps more necessary than even I realized. My boss’s beach house in Costambar is so close to Santiago, and yet so far removed from daily life . I didn’t look at my my phone from when I arrived a little before 3 pm until the next morning, the dawn of day 116. After staying up way too late shooting the breeze – and enjoying the salty breeze, in concert with the sound of the waves – on Friday night, a Saturday of alternating between an inflatable donut in the pool and a chair next to the pool, paired with tapas and exceptional conversation, was blissful. 

The backyard has the best reading hammock. Current book: Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots (also a Netflix miniseries that I will watch when I finish the book!). Summer reading program pages logged: 2,356. 

I’m not sure if the neighborhood’s public beach is open, nor did we ever make the short walk/drive to check, so morning strolls on the sandy stretch behind the house became necessary. I kept telling myself I wasn’t going to collect more shells and sea glass and then…
I left early enough Sunday morning to attend church at Pueblo Nuevo, an urban congregation that’s not the one I normally attend. It was an extra-special Sunday there, but that’s a separate post. Right now, I’m off to make lunch and then take advantage of my unscheduled afternoon to help tackle the cataloging backlog in the seminary library. 
Until next time, blessings!