sanibel island: day 2

 view of the rising sun through our bedroom window. sanibel island, january, 2011.

a glorious dawn lured me out of bed and onto the beach by 6:45. i had left the curtains open the night before, and i would definitely continue to do so, because this is the scene that greeted me every morning while i was still lying in bed. there was no wind; the air was warm and moist as i made my way downstairs, crossed a short stretch of lawn, hopped down a couple steps onto the beach, and then dug my toes in the sand.

the beach was practically empty. every morning at daybreak i found myself here, alone (the rest of the gang were still asleep upstairs), wandering along an almost deserted gulf for an hour or so. solitude is a lovely thing. your thoughts are given a chance to expand in uninterrupted silence. but really you aren't alone at all in such a place, and to be completely truthful nor is it always silent, with brown pelicans (only somewhat noisy when they roost and make their nests in trees during the march and april breeding seson), gulls (the really noisy residents of the island), terns, dolphins, sandpipers, plovers, starfish, crabs, sea cucumbers, and mollusks to keep you company.

later in the morning it would start to rain, and the rain would continue for most of the day, the only rainy day we had on the island. it stayed delightfully balmy and thundered intermittently. at one point, while i was sitting on the porch, it was difficult to distinguish between the distant thunder and the thrumming of the waves. the sound of the surf transformed into a sweet lullaby at night. my head would rest on the pillow, the droning of the whooshing sea would fill my ears, and i would be gently, slowly, transported into my dreams....