I am not a morning person

I used to be able to wake up early and get right out of bed. Somewhere along the way I turned into a night owl. I am wide awake at 10 p.m. which is one of the reasons I post my blog so late. In the morning I like an hour to myself, without noise or conversation. (Hmm…that’s one of the reasons I stay up late at night; time to myself without noise or conversation.)

I keep thinking I would like to get up earlier. I know I feel good when I start my day with a walk. I know it’s a way to start shedding some of the extra winter weight I’m carrying. But I’m SO good at hitting the snooze alarm, cat-napping my way through another hour in bed.

This morning the tide was at its lowest at 6:11. We had very heavy seas on Sunday. This was the perfect morning to walk to the “station” and have a chance to see what might have landed on the beach from the stormy weather. I managed to get out of the house by 6:45, dragging myself all the way to the front door.

Before I even made it down my front steps I was happy to be outside.  The spring smell of things turning green hit me right away. I could hear at least 10 different kinds of birds singing as I walked down the road to the beach. While it wasn’t  a sunny morning, the rain had stopped and there was no wind, so it really wasn’t  too cold. As I stepped onto the beach, two great blue herons flew overhead on their way to a tide pool for some breakfast.

I was glad to have my camera with me. The next time I take an early morning walk, (tomorrow?) I want to bring my binoculars. I heard a bird call I didn’t recognize, and this time in the spring, before the leaves come out, is the best time for getting a good view of warblers.

I was not the only one who was out early on the low tide sand. Deer tracks!

I liked the way this piece of seaweed looked like some sort of sea insect.

And the way the photographer’s shadow was distorted by the wet sand.

A large section of the beach was covered in kelp tossed up by the storm. (In the background, the old U.S. Life Saving Station. Now a private dwelling.)

Rather than walk through all of that, I left the beach and continued my walk on the road. As I stepped over the top of the bank, I saw another sign of the recent storm. This seaweed lined trail of sand, left when the high tide overflowed.

Today was a good day to be a morning person.