There's not much I can say about this morning's sunrise... it speaks for itself. What? Me? Speechless? Well just for now, enjoy the rising sun just as I did.
She was quite intent on her task... dipping and cleaning under her wings each in turn, cleaning her feet, swishing her feathers in the water then shaking the water out of them. All the while the male was looking left and right like a palace guard.
There is a pier where fishermen and sightseers gather and the coastal road runs right at the edge of the beach. I'm not used to the sounds of cars and trucks mixing with the sounds of the gulls and ocean. Nor am I accustomed to the smells wafting from the numerous restaurants along the roadway, but it made for some extraordinary sensory stimulation. 'Twas a new venture to say the least and I enjoyed it, but there's nothing quite so comforting as the familiar and I'll look forward to again walking along the sands at home. 
Approaching a flock of Royal terns on the beach, I heard a single strange bird cry. It was a loud call I had not heard before and I ran through my mental rolodex trying to place it. Finally I was close enough to figure it out. Well, I should have known that being springtime one may be privy to various bird mating rituals. Glad to know this lovely species will continue for a little longer.
Winds were strong out of the East and I could hear the ocean's roar as I approached. I do wish I was technically advanced enough to include sound with this blog. The waves were huge and there is nothing like the sound of the ocean on a perfect beach day, the temperature was just right, the sun was shining, and there were... onions on the beach, huh?
No kidding, my first thought was that someone had spilled a jar of those little white pearl onions. They were everywhere, hundreds of them, little jellyfish that looked just like onions. I'd never seen anything like them. Big ones, tiny ones and every size in between. The farther I walked the more of them I saw. There must have been thousands. Incredible.
Then lo and behold after seeing so many little jellyfish I came across a very large one. This big guy must have been 14 to 16 inches across. My oh my, those strong East winds were blowing all kinds of critters ashore.
During my walk this morning I was thinking that it won't be long before the giant sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. That is an exciting time but one fraught with hazards for the turtles, especially the man-made hazards when people dig huge holes in the sand and don't fill them in before leaving the beach. These holes are death traps for the huge sea turtles, so it helps turtles, the turtle patrol and gives me extra exercise when I try to fill the holes along my route. With these thoughts running around my brain, I came across my first turtle of the day. Nicely sculptured in the sand this almost life-sized rendition of what is to come fit nicely into my musings. It was almost as if I had conjured it up.
This morning it was verging on rain and the air was heavy with moisture, the sun was trying to break through the clouds and I love the sight of rain at sea and the sun shining behind the clouds making gold highlights on the tips of the waves as in the photo above. As I stopped to take the shot, a woman passed by talking on a cell phone, talking quite loudly in fact. I fell in behind her and was amused at how intent she was on her conversation. I'm sure that if her hands had been tied behind her back she would not have been able to say a word so demonstrative was she. I walked behind her for close to a half hour and gladly let her and her conversation go as I turned around and headed back north.
Pausing along the way to take another photo I heard the voice... she was back and still talking and gesturing. Hadn't missed a beat. I followed her again for another 25 or 30 minutes and she never stopped. She missed laughing with the laughing gulls, she missed the rain clouds rolling in, she missed the wonderful sounds and scents of the ocean. Why, oh why?
But I must remember... this is a "Grateful Blog" and I guess I'm grateful that while on her cell phone, she was passing me on the beach and not in her car passing me on the highway.
A friend of mine is from England and what we call cotton balls, she refers to as cotton wool. The term seems like an oxymoron to me, but nonetheless the cloud cover this morning was definitely cottony and wooly. It was an interesting sight. A very interesting walk with dabs of sunshine, dabs of shade and just plain pleasant. Not a complaint in sight!
It was just before dawn, still almost hard dark when the Shuttle Discovery lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Monday, April 5. I was on the beach with hundreds of others who got the thrill of seeing the launch. Amazing that I still get such pleasure at the sights, sounds and rumbling earth associated with shuttle launches. Oh how sad to think there are only three launches left before the program shuts down. I'll be sure to savor every one.
When the sun started to crest the horizon the disintegrating contrail picked up the colors of the spectrum and it was such an unusual sight. The other two photos I call "scrambled contrail" and are my own. A most exceptional sight indeed.
It has been a long time since I managed a dawn walk on the beach but our weather has finally turned and with things to do later in the day I decided that today was the day to get back to the early morning routine which cold weather forced me to abandon. What a dawn it was. First just a glimpse of sun on the horizon, then full-blown brilliance.
We went from wearing jackets to putting on a bathing suit in one day and you won't hear one word of complaint from me. These uncooked-chicken-white legs of mine need to be remedied but other than that spring weather is officially here. 
It was low tide and the tidal pools caused by sand bars gave areas of the shoreline unique wading and swimming opportunities. (Looks like good exercise.)
Other than that, chatting at ocean's edge or just enjoying sun, sand and friends made it an extraordinary day. Lucky that I was a part of it and will be able to enjoy more like this in the days, weeks and months ahead.
