First Steps
In the early morning, on a fine summer day, just as the sun is rising there can be a moment when the beach is all mine except for the tide and the shore birds. It's a sight quite literally never to be seen again, and being there to see it, to be the one to see it, fills me with quiet pleasure. It’s been that way all my life. And that's how it feels this morning as I stare off into the first day of 2025.
The year is an empty beach of undisturbed sand, and I am ready to walk down it. Everything gone before me is washed away by the wind and the tide in this new morning, and all that’s left is for me to walk. The birds will skitter away as I do, and maybe a gull will stop by to see if I have any food to offer. Perhaps a pelican or two will glide along on the breeze. In some years, I have had footfalls beside me, in others, not. Eventually strangers will come, of course, traveling their own journeys, but for now it’s just me, dawn, and possibilities.
I’ve never been in a hurry to walk down a beach, and I’m in no hurry to walk down this one. The beach is eternal. I’m only a footprint maker, and the ocean, swaying to the rhythm of the moon, will quickly wash away my efforts. But I’ll play my part and walk along the sea and the shore of the new year, and see what it brings as I have for better than three quarters of a century. A traveler. Breathing in and out as I walk, listening to the wind and the waves.Pondering my possibilities and wondering what the year will bring.