Under a Blood Red Sky


It's 6:07 am. I turn my head and shake the sleep from my eyes. When it clears I see salt marshes to the left and a neat row of brightly colored beach cottages, and docks with boats gently rocking in the water to the right. This is Sunset Beach. The sky is on fire with color and I cannot remember a more invigorating wake up or the last time I was so grateful for my life. I walk out onto the porch just next to my bed and deeply breathe in the humid, salty sea air.

Wait, what am I doing? This is the stuff that great runs are made of. Hurriedly, I pull on running clothes and shoes and sprint to the beach as fast as my legs will take me. The three-day rain streak is broken. The sky is blue, the clouds expansive, and the bright sunshine, oh the welcome sunshine, so coy these last few days, has returned and casts a rosy glow over the breakers and soft dunes. The tide is receding and all I see in front of me is flat sand. I hit my stride and before I know it, I've run out of island and hit the jetty. I turn around and face the steadily rising sun and watch it reflect brilliantly off the long stretch of beach before me. I set off towards the other end. My pace quickens as the gladness to be here, in this moment, courses through my veins.

The joys of beach life wash over me like the waves on the shore: little ones getting a head start to their sand castles, families taking early morning walks together, tai chi and quiet contemplative moments for others. I feel so far removed from everything else going on in my life but I also know this is the place I see it all most clearly too.

I'm wasting time writing about this day when I should be out enjoying it. To that end: The end.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Last day of Classes, Good Friday, and the first 24 hours in Istanbul!

Image
First thing’s first: I AM DONE WITH GRAD SCHOOL! I have turned in all my papers, finished all my classes, passed comps, and completed all my presentations. It feels great to come home at night and not have schoolwork to think about. About two months ago, my cousin Cara and I were talking about her upcoming trip to Istanbul. She told me about her great set up and it sounded like it would be a great way to celebrate the completion of my Masters degree. So I bought my ticket for the day after my last class. After two months of craziness involving much more than just school and work, I am now on the other side and looking at job searching, apartment searching, and just figuring out the next general steps for life. I am so excited to see what unfolds. Since there is very little certainty in my life, it’s probably best I just stick to writing about what I know, and that is mainly what has already happened. So I will do my best to recount the even...
Read more

Spoke Too Soon

Yesterday after returning from the Prefecture (french DMV, just as badas the US) after an unsuccessful attempt at registering the car, I found that the house had been broken into and that my computer, computer bag, iPod and case and headphones, camera had all been stolen. They tried to take the TV but they either didn't have time or decided it was too heavy. I'm pretty sure that when I got back and pulled into the house they were still there and had to hide and that's why they left the TV. So life in Martinique is set back quite a few steps. Everytime I move forward here, something else comes along. I'm tired of it. I had locked the house up tight and made sure that everything was closed because Marie-Ange had warned me about other robberies in the area. They got me. Add another B to the list: buses, bats, bees, burglars.
Read more

The Grand Tour of Martinique for Beginners

Image
So on Friday, Sarah Caitlin and I went to Sainte-Anne. It’s referred to as t he most beautiful beach in Martinique. It’s on the very southern tip of the island and true to it’s description in the guide books, has soft, powdery white sand and turquoise waters with calm waves lapping at the shore. We left early in the morning and got there in about an hour. I hadn’t gone running tha t morning because I thought I might be able to go at the beach. Boy, was that a good decision. Before we got to the beach I had seen that there was a good system o f foot trails all around the southern tip connecting several beaches over about 20 miles. It wasn’t all continuous but the beach where we were going, there was a good 5k trail from our beach to the next one up that went across what is known in Martinique as “Les Sables de Petrification” or the petrified sand. It was described to me as a lunar landscape. I was kind of excited to see it and even if I couldn’t run it, I decided I would at leas...
Read more