Time for groundrules

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Need 6 say any more! Well of course 6 will… 6’s attempt to ensure the liberties and freedom’s fell flat on its face last year. Using 6’s superior intelligence, what better way to ensure freedom, equity and justice, than to copy the constitution of this here United States of America!  If we have individuals who mock the basic premise of our fun family vacation, they will be mocking the basic fabric that establishes the freedoms that is entrusted to us each day as citizens of this great country. (note: I have only provided specific Sections and Articles plus amendments that pertain to our time in Kiawah, if you would like to see the document in full please feel free to look it up in the encyclopedia)

The Constitution of the Kiawah Clan:

We the People of the Kiawah Clan, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Kiawah Vacation.
Article I.
Section 1.
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Gator watcher of the Kiawah Clan, which shall consist of an intellectual giant, and no one else.
Section 2.
The Gator watcher shall be composed of Member chosen every second Year by the Intellectual Giant (IG) of the Kiawah Clan.
No Person shall be the intellectual Giant who shall not have attained to the Age fifty two years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the Kiawah Clan, and who shall, when elected, be an Inhabitant a southern state, and male.
Section 3.
The leadership and powers granted to the Gator watcher, per the election process, give the balance and representation to the intellectual giant (IG).
Amendments to the Kiawah Clan Constitution, herein referred to as ground rules (GR)
GR 1…
Prohibits the making of any comments respecting an establishment of mandatory fun, directives, taxation, and respect of the intellectual giant. (7 this means you)
GR 2..
Prohibits the manufacturing or sale of alcohol within the Kiawah grounds.   Beer, wine and spirits must be made or purchased off of the island. Only approved types may be consumed in each domicile and beach areas. Approval and deviations must be granted by the IG (form HMRPBR#1)
GR 3.
Prohibits excess sleep during daylight hours.  Wake-up 6:00AM, lights out 10:00 pm. For a waiver use (Form LB77162)
GR 4.
Prohibits flexibility in feeding and drinking times. (no wavers or deviations accepted)
Feeding times: Breakfast 8-9AM, Lunch 12-1 PM, snack 5-6PM, dinner 7PM
Drinking times: HMR 5-6PM, others including HMR 12-12
GR 5.
Prohibits flexibility in scheduled mandatory activities, to include beach time. (no wavers or deviations accepted)
GR 6.
Prohibits descent, discussion, questioning, of the directives, opinions, and thus wisdom of the IG. (no wavers or deviations accepted)
GR 7.
Prohibits the use of unapproved electronic devices during scheduled mandatory activities.  A waver can be granted after completing (Form SOL6A6162637132).
GR 8.
Provides that a dress codes will be strictly enforced. In order to gain entrance to the beach on the day of the Clan picture, on must have a pink bathing suit, the “official” shirt, and last but not least John Lennon sunglasses.
GR 9.
Prohibits watching any form of TV that is not on the approved IG list. For example: Andy Griffin, Beverly Hillbillies, approved….. Hota Gabob, Kathy Lee, Love it or list it, GD not approved. Waver form (GAL6A4627).
GR 10.
Prohibits taxation with representation. Our freedom is the most important! Since we are a green Clan, (Section IV article 1) there will be a 10% resource usage tax levied, on the use of all renewable items on vacation. To include: showers, terlot flushes, dishes used, glasses used, water / pop/beer/gin bottles & cans, bags paper or plastic, electricity, etc.   Per the constitution, the IG also has the power of the treasury (Section III article 5). Therefore you can pay for individual usage (Terlet flush= fiddy cent per flush) or you can pay a flat fee of $10 per day, payable COB. Funds to be used at the discretion of the IG (Section III article 6).

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, the IG has been instituted among men, deriving his just powers over the  governed. That whenever any member of the Kiawah Clan becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the IG to alter or to abolish it or them , and to institute new amendments, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effectively improve  the IG’s happiness.
Words of wisdom: Do not allow the ordinary to become moral rights, and moral rights become the values of a lost society.

The voting is over and we have the results

Well as each day passes, we are getting closer. Soon panic will start to set in, because the talk will be over and the packing will commence. If you take the time, and look around, you see the changes starting to happen, the sun raises later each day, the grass is turning brown, the afternoon thunderstorm are becoming more frequent, Belk is having their summer sales, signs for the lawn tractor race are going up, and our church missile is running out of pages, and last but not least those pesky little lizards are running across my driveway! Let’s see what we have completed thus far: Condo paid for (check), family shirts ordered (check), pink bathing suit purchased (check), flip flops broken in (check) , new chairs (check), dew rag (check), Jimmy Hendrix tee shirt (check), truckster washed and waxed (not yet), Oil changed (check), trip to wall-mart to get Saturday night dinner (not yet), sun screen (check), 2014 ground rules (not yet), 2014 mandatory family activities (not yet), place to stay Friday night (not yet), iTunes updated (check), order placed at total wine (not yet), , family picture taker scheduled  7’s job (????), dinner cooking schedule 63’s assignment (????), gator bikes ordered 8 (????), Basketball deflated 7 (????), Knee high black socks and sandals for trip to church and Charleston 6,7,8,32 (????), beach watch (check), beach readin books 0A,4,21A,6A,61,62,63,71,32 (????), golf skills honed 7,32,21,21A (????), anti-ground rule mandatory fun skill honed 7 (Check),TV time for watching Hota Gabob  4, 7,8 (Check). To continue 6 went way back to a blog in February and lifted some other assignments: let’s see who does what they are supposed to do and those who “just don’t care” about our old hap hap happy fun family vacation!

Swim trunks… responsibility 61… the task is, is pick a color that most represents our family vacation. Completed….the color of choice is hot Pink… As of last Sunday, Belk had one extra large, 2 larges, and 2 mediums… for $32…I bet that since this is the big summer sale they might be cheaper and I know that 7, 32, 8 and 21 are cheap..If someone needs one let me know! For the females…. Sorry no help here!

Shades: responsibility..32 we need to get some nice shades. Remember you have to pick a neutral pair (men and woman) I prefer the John Lennon look; we could get colors to match our swim trunks! I know that you are a slacker, but 6 thinks he may be able to help you out on this one.

Hats: responsibility 63… this one we can have a little flexibility on, because some of us need hats that are different than others. For example if we go the route of the straw beach hat 6 needs one with a tight weave or he will have a red head! 63 what do our hats look like?? Slacker!!

Shirts: responsibility..63 &71… I can imagine all of us in a notice family photo, with same type of shirt. I picture a monogrammed tee shirt, I can see it now, we all can have on the same shirt monogrammed with our code, this way there will be no confusion as to our names!  DONE! Good job you two, 63 looks like you are just a half slacker now!

One last administrative thing:: The votes are in and counted it looks like option 5 is the winner! It was not even close. Option #5: 6A,0A,4,61,62,63,32,71….6,7,8… since 6,7,and 8 are all southern gentlemen we will let the other pick which condo they want.

Attitude is really everything, just for a second think about this.. Whatever day you first get to the beach, the first thing you do, is stop and notice the wind in your face, the scent of the ocean breeze, the sound of the waves breaking, the warm sand on your feet, the sun on your skin, pleasant conversation as you share the anticipation with another member of the clan, for a moment the day to day grind of the past 365 days just fades away. Fast forward, several days… it is Friday afternoon,  your head is down, the chairs you are carrying act like a kite as they slam against your legs, the sound of the waves has become normal, the sun and sand now burn your feet, conversation is limited at best,  but yet you are standing at the exact same place…. How can that be? Since I am the intellectual of the family, I guess I will have to explain! It really is simple, there is an old saying we hear it in songs, it is the theme of many movies, it is in books in fact everywhere you turn you hear it or see it. That is “live every day as if it were your last”. They are all wrong; it should be “live everyday as if it were the first”. If you take that attitude, then nothing gets old or repetitive, and nothing has to end. For the life is always expanding, and not going in a circle.