Sunday Morning

Early Sunday Morning: Right now – everything is absolutely perfect in my world.
I walk 4 miles in cool, clear, brilliant weather, thrilled at being a part of the ‘morning motion’ on the bayfront.
People are biking, walking, running – it’s all about moving.

It gives me joy to walk, reminding me of the perfect instrument I’ve been given to use for this lifetime.

Upon my return to the marina, the day is becoming more perfect- bad grammar – how can anything be better than perfect?
I am becoming more aware of the perfection of each moment. Jeff meets me as I walk down the dock toward the boat and we are both in awe of the day as we head toward the boat, hand in hand. I take off my shoes and settle into a deck chair in the cockpit. My gaze drifts over the glass surface that is the water, the neighboring boats, and the bridge I just crossed.

I feel an all-over warmth inside from muscles being used, and the sun touching my already moist skin. Overhead I hear the deceptive little chirp of a magnificent osprey with a surprised fish in its talons. Breakfast is ready!

Jeff brings me my coffee. I smile and say, “The only other thing I need now is our dolphin.”
The dolphin is an occasional visitor to our dock - he's got a badly mangled dorsal fin and he's safe in the bay waters. He’s friendly and even visited us on Christmas morning which was a delight to my girls. How many people get a holiday greeting from a dolphin?
Although it’s winter, the air is warm enough to climb up to the flybridge for a better view. Sailboats are moored at a distance, fishing boats gently make their way out of the marina, causing the lines of our boat to groan gently. It’s one of my favorite marina sounds.
Seabirds are plentiful – cormorants, parrots, pelicans, seagulls. My eyes shift from the sky to the water and there’s our dolphin swimming past the bow of our boat, barely breaking the surface with each breath.
It just can’t get any better than this!
Now I’m grinning: everything was there. I just needed a better perspective to see it all. And once more, gratitude strikes and I’m overwhelmed at the awareness and appreciation that has put me in the flow of life.

With such a visual feast, my mind goes to EJ, my friend lost to breast cancer a few years ago. Although she was blind, I know how she would enjoy this day: the warmth, sorting out the different sounds of birds, tiny waves patting the bow as a wake moves underneath, followed by the boat’s subtle rocking, church bells peeling after Sunday service, good strong coffee, and the smell of breakfast cooking...mmmm.. Gotta go!

A perfect day. I wish the same for each and every one of you.