Ending the year with a beachy sunrise

Feeling the energy of this place
Cocoa Beach, FL
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

On the last day of the last year before random wanderings on an empty beach became something we remembered more than we experienced, I stood in the dim predawn light where sand meets water and waited for the sun to return.

We weren't here for very long, just one night/morning before we loaded the car up once more and continued on our journey. But it was just enough for me to squeeze in a few minutes before we needed to get moving. Long enough to convince me we'd need more time here someday.

Because this wasn't just any beach. And it wasn't in just any other place.

Cocoa Beach is just south of where rockets - and humans - leave the planet. And while this day wasn't a launch day, if I closed my eyes just so, I could feel what this place would have felt like before an Apollo launch, or a Shuttle launch, or any mission that added to the history books.

Exploration happens here. It's part of the local language, the lore. Streets are named after those who have launched and returned. And those who perished.

It felt right, almost respectful, to reflect quietly by the water as the sun painted itself upon the landscape once more. Because every day tells its own story, and we owe it to ourselves to go to the places where the stories that matter most to us have been told.

Even if we only get to touch the sand for a few fleeting moments, the trip is always worth it. And I look forward to the day we can once again return, safely, to the places that stir our imagination.

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