I like to consider myself to be a connoisseur of fine sunrises…I have sampled some of the quainter vintages…cruise ship in the Mexican Caribbean…Red Rock Country, Arizona…but…my all-time favorite ones are those on the Redneck Caribbean…that’s right…Gulf Shores, AL.
Fine wine…requires the perfect balance of ingredients…it might be a wisp of cherries…and a velvety undertone of oak…
For sunrise…it’s simple…clouds…it take just the right amount of clouds…too few…and the sky just kind of turns light…too many…and…it just doesn’t show up…
Location matters…most discerning palates can tell the difference between French, California and Alabama grapes…some locations just have it…and some of them don’t…
Same with the sunrise…my current house…ain’t got it…love the house…but it just isn’t situated to give me glorious sunrises…but the boardwalk at Main Beach in Gulf Shores…primo…
When I lived there…I would walk at the beach most mornings before work…so I could enjoy the sunrise…there were usually just enough clouds…pale pink would start in the east…and then make its way across the entire beach to the west…getting brighter and deeper…until it reached the crescendo that I called…clouds on fire…
As you can imagine…there weren’t a tremendous amount of people sharing the boardwalk with me at that time of day…especially off-season…so I usually kept my safety radar on as I walked along…
One morning…I spotted him…sitting on a bench…facing the Gulf…middle-aged…balding…ponytail…looking like he’d frequented a few too many love-ins in the ‘60s…if you know what I mean…so you understand my hesitancy when he stopped me to ask when it would be sunrise…I was heading east…looking at a glorious sky…and said…any minute now…and hurried on…
The next day…you guessed it…he was there again…same scenario…he’s looking at the Gulf…asks me when it will be sunrise…I look at the beautiful eastern sky…and say…any minute now…
Third day…same thing…he’s sitting in the same place…looking at the Gulf…which is due south…and something about the way he asked this time…I realized that he was waiting for the sun to come up over the water…he hadn’t seen a single sunrise in three days…
You’ll be proud of me…I was very polite…did not roll my eyes…or laugh…but I did point to the eastern clouds of glory…and tell him that the sunrise was there…
But…I do remember thinking…or maybe it was Bertha whispering in my ear…it was there all along…you just needed to turn your head…and then I wondered…or maybe she asked me…how often do I miss what I’m looking for…because I’m looking in the wrong direction…
Jane
Jane, I love this story, sorry I am not up early enough to see the sunrise I have been getting up to have my 'quite time with Christ before the busy day starts, I guess I should meet Christ in all His glory
ReplyDeleteAhhh, Reba...what a beautiful way to start your morning. Not to worry if you miss sunrise...you can always catch sunset...just as glorious!
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