We had the opportunity to visit relatives in a sunny place and did so. In 48 hours we went from shoveling snow to digging sand from our shorts. At the moment it seems anything I write especially describing experiences of extreme privilege such as this, and I acknowledge it as such must be filtered through a scrim of humility in the face of current events. But I am also trying to live beyond my generation and continue to hope, that by drawing my children into environs where people different than us have their own ways of being neighborly, the kids will grow up less willing to navigate based on misallocations of fear. Lest you think this is some sort of self-congratulatory after-school special, we also spent time during this getaway arguing about screen time, chores, bedtime and general scheduling. There was some huffing and grumping and retreating to rooms, and thats just speaking for myself.

Within hours of our arrival we spent some time in and on the Caribbean, and there is no better way for a well-larded cheesehead fresh out of the slush to realize he is such than to stand shin-deep in the surf as the sun converts his scalp into a crepe skillet. The effect is heightened by the addition of a neon pink snorkel mask and flippers. To see me hit the surf is to observe an albino walrus with balance issues trying to exit the tavern only to belly-flop into the stock tank. When I finally wind up floating face down, I am amazed to see fish that have clearly escaped from someones aquarium. When you are raised on walleye and northern, you go ga-ga over the simplest tropical minnow.

Another benefit of unseasonable (to me) sun (lets also call it cheaters sun) is that when you spend half the day lurching around in foot fins and sweating like youre baling hay when youre really just sitting there, your brain rewires itself so that eating feels like an essential and hard-earned ritual necessary to keep up with all the calories that evaporate simply through nonstop sun exposure. The writer Jim Harrison once wrote that Only in the Midwest is overeating considered an act of heroism, and he was right, but the sad subtopic is that when we overeat during the cramped dark days of winter, the post-Calvinist guilt kicks in. Empty calories are a self-defeating bulwark against the encroaching ice banks in your brain, whereas down here with your head addled by the scent of 50 SPF sunblock, you rediscover food as a form of celebration compatible with the environs.

At one point during the vacation we took a day to help our relatives do some projects: painting, cleaning and fixing windows, general maintenance. Considering the free room and board we were receiving, this little break from the sunburn schedule seemed the least we could do. There was grumbling from junior quarters, to which I responded, Hey, how bout you go out and drag the tarp off the woodpile and haul in about three loads? at which point washing the screens suddenly seemed like a form of celebration compatible with the environs.

An original Roughneck Grace column exclusive to the Wisconsin State Journal. Audio versions may air on Tent Show Radio(tentshowradio.com). Read more from Michael Perry at http://www.sneezingcow.com.

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