BEFORE THE DAWN

"The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere . . . "

~John Muir

Not being a morning person, I've very few sunrise pictures. But yesterday I joined some friends at the beach for sunrise picture taking, bird counting and breakfast. (They count shorebirds for the Audubon Society from about 5:30 to 7:30 a.m.) Um, its DARK at 5 a.m. Really dark. But, I got my sorry body out of bed and joined them. I arrived just in time to see the sun, still below the horizon  light up the clouds.

Unfortunately, that was as good as it got. There was a thick cloud cover along the horizon and the lovely colors soon disappeared. 

The morning was cool with lovely soft breezes. So welcomed, so enjoyed. And gradually, the morning got underway. 

I was actually surprised to see how many people were at the beach at this hour of the day. Sunrise worshipers and fishermen and people just enjoying the peace and tranquility before the arrival of beach umbrellas, coolers and sand pails.