Resetting the Compass – Day 20
Today was our first snow on Cape Cod and my inner child had me out in it as soon as I came home from yoga and all my errands. After a quick clearing of the driveway, I headed to the beach. There is nothing more beautiful than snow on the beach.
I turned the corner out of my street and the marsh was the first thing that caught my eye. The snow looked like clumps of marshmallows (no pun intended, but kind of cool it’s there) with the brown marsh grass pushing up in between. I decided my route today would take me left on North Shore Boulevard to the end of the paved road. There I would mount the beach path and walk the shoreline all the way back home.
Turning onto the boulevard I walked facing the wind. I was fearful I should’ve worn a neck warmer. All thoughts of being cold vanished when I caught what was happening on the roofs of two cottages on my right. The roofs were full, and I mean full, of blackbirds warming themselves in the late afternoon sun. Finally I came to the beach path. I was wondering if there was any snow left on the beach by this time of day. Reaching the top of the dune path, I wasn’t disappointed. The snow was left unchanged right where the overnight storm dropped it. It was low tide and the part of the sand that was visible was the part where the snow had been eaten up by the morning’s high tide. I ambled the shoreline in the afternoon sun. No beach glass or particular treasures of any kind today. It didn’t take long to reach the next dune path that deposited me neatly back on the boulevard road. On the way home I met a neighbor. We exchanged pleasantries and moved along as the sun was beginning to set. I arrived back at my doorstep a bit cold, but invigorated and appreciative of this time outside today.
This was a tiny artist date. I had bills to pay, clothes to wash, floors to vacuum, but I hadn’t had an artist date in over two weeks and the first snow provided an opportunity too good to pass up.
And so, as another day goes by, the compass points to more time spent with my inner child artist in 2012, and….I have written.
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