Oct 26: Seaside Sunrise

It's something everyone should have the chance to experience. Sunrise at the sea offers one of those special South Florida moments. I was reminded about this twice over the weekend - once when I made it to the Fort Lauderdale beach in time for a dramatic sunrise, and again when a friend from Seattle marveled at her own opportunity to see the sun appear over the Atlantic Ocean. (Our sunrises have even inspired their own Twitter page, with pics that you can check out at http://twitter.com/FtLauderdaleSun.) The friend was Gwendolyn's sister, Tracy, a college teacher who was in the area for an education conference. Tracy found time for an early morning swim and a very memorable sunrise on Saturday, later recalling for us that instant when the earliest rays broke over the horizon.

As for me, well, I woke up at 6:30 Saturday morning for some odd reason. This is not the norm I assure you, especially not on weekends. But I felt rested and wide awake, glanced outside and thought, "I should pop out of bed right now and head off to the beach for the sunrise." Smart decision.

I pulled into the huge South Beach parking lot on the Fort Lauderdale beach at about the same moment Tracy also must have been watching the sun come up. Only a sliver of intense light was visible, a rich yellow the shade of mango juice. I quickly got out of my car as the sun first rose among a grand cloudbank, then disappeared into it. This was when I finally paid the master parking meter, left the receipt inside my windshield and walked north a short ways. But I soon realized that this morning seemed too beautiful to keep walking any farther, distracted by other people. So I found my own private patch of sand and sat down facing the Atlantic. What a sky! Overhead and behind me, I saw gobs of blue poking out but much of the sky was draped in heavy layers of clouds. To me they resembled clothing that had been wadded and tossed aside in a heap, perhaps a collection of cotton shirts in gray and white, blue and black carelessly bunched one on top of each other to form a thick massive pile. The sun would return later in the day after a pleasant morning shower. But at this moment, it didn't matter to me. I had started my weekend oceanside, finding just enough sun at just the right time to make my day.