Where so many others have walked

By the day's early light
Pompano Beach, FL, December 2011

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There's a certain sense of peace associated with walking along a quiet beach just after the rising sun has begun to paint the sand. What was cold to the touch just a few minutes ago is suddenly alive with radiated heat, as if a ball of hot gas some 93 million miles away can somehow bring immediate heat to your feet - and by association, your soul. Amazingly, that's exactly what happens as the sun rapidly transforms this place from the murky colors of pre-dawn to something that's decidedly more alive.

It's a change that you can feel as well as see. And as I focus in on the sidelit relief of the sand, I notice the traces of countless unseen souls who've walked here before me, and I get the feeling that I'm not the only one who's been drawn here. I wonder who all these other people are, and whether they felt the same sense of reverence that I'm feeling now. I wonder if they wonder anything at all, or if they're simply content to spend a few quiet minutes here before rejoining the real world as it shakes off the night and prepares for whatever it is that comes next.

I don't know what awaits me as the sun continues its relentless journey toward the top of the sky, but that hardly seems to matter as I slowly turn for home. My wife's probably awake by now. And breakfast awaits. I quietly think to myself that more days should start like this. Maybe...

Your turn: What does your ideal start-to-the-day look like?