It's Coming!

I went to bed early last night, well early for me, around 10:30. My body is used to barely 5 hours, so sleeping a full eight is almost impossible, but last night I did. If you're doing the math, 8 hours puts me up at 6:30. This week, thanks to a generous invitation by my sister, I am at the beach for Thanksgiving. The house is oceanfront, so there was a good amount of light in the room at 6:30. I checked my Weather Channel app on my phone,  6:56. I hadn't missed it. I quickly put on sweats and a sweatshirt to step out of my room onto the deck into the 35°air to watch the sunrise. There's nothing quite like sunrise at the beach. There was a thin line of clouds just above the horizon that had a pink hue as the sun teased behind them. I checked my phone, 6:40, 16 more minutes of waiting for the sun to appear. Standing in the freezing wind. Did I give up and go inside? No, I didn't.  I waited, my body huddled in a ball to keep warm, camera phone at the ready. I checked the time again, 6:53, 3 minutes. I looked out on the horizon, the to p of the ridge of clouds was on fire with gold. Standing out there alone, I got so excited! I actually said aloud, "It's coming!" I started to snap pictures as the sun rose, what seemed like, out of the ocean, and then I stopped to just watch it, right there in front of me. Let me say that again, I stopped to watch it. Today, the day after Thanksgiving,  for me, is the official start of the Christmas season.  The next  4 weeks will be jam-packed with all kinds of activities. Waiting for the sunrise today made me think how excited I used to be for Christmas. It was filled with things I wanted to do, not things I had to do. IT'S COMING! I'm really going to try this year to "stop and watch it," because, like the sunrise, it will be over before I know it, and I will have been to busy "taking pictures," to enjoy what is right in front of me.