When my Traveling Partner suggested it, yesterday, I wasn’t exactly surprised; he tends to be very considerate of my needs and emotional well-being. He respects me as an artist, and undertands my need to paint.

[No AI is used in writing or editing this blog. This is human content for human readers.]

What did surprise me was my enthusiasm.  I had my day planned and my art supplies packed and ready for me before the evening ended. It’s a long weekend. He has stuff he wants to do, himself, and that might mess with the environment I like to paint in. A frustrated cranky artist loitering in the house while he is trying to do other things might be… challenging. He has his reasons. I respect his need to have a reasonably relaxed space in which to get things done, too. I don’t mind fucking off for a day or a weekend. I tend to be considerate of his needs, as he is with mine.

Note the exchange of courtesies? The mutual consideration and respect? It’s a system. We each contribute. There’s an implied social contract (in addition to the formalized specific social contract of our wedding vows). It seems odd that something so obviously effective seems to have crumbled from beneath society at large. Just saying; we could all do better than this bullshit divisiveness and being played against each other for someone’s bottom line or “shareholder value”. What a bogus bunch of nonsense.

Not yet dawn, I take the picture with a long exposure just to see the ocean.

I sip my coffee, purchased while I got gas at the start of my journey and only now cool enough to drink after the one hour drive to the coast. It’s quite dreadful. I drink it anyway, and reflect on the exploitative business model that gets a cup of coffee to me at all, and wonder what a cup of black coffee from a gas station would actually cost if everyone in the supply chain were paid a truly fair living wage for their efforts, and no middlemen taking more than an appropriate amount for whatever service they provide? I suspect it would not be the inexpensive luxury it is now, and it’s possible I would not find it affordable for everyday consumption at all.

…I sip my terrible cup of coffee with considerable gratitude and appreciation..

… I feel fortunate.

I see more rain coming, a smudgy veil of mist between cloudy sky and ocean waves. I watch it approach with awe and wonder.

The tide is coming in. It will peak a little later this morning, around 09:45. In the distance I hear a boom; waves smashing into rocks. The gray cloudy sky overhead looks almost close enough to touch from my perch on this picnic table, looking out over the sea. Daybreak brings with it various seabirds gliding on the air currents. The horizon becomes more distinct. The clouds take on more shapes and hues. I sit in the ocean breeze sipping my coffee and filling my senses, watching the subtleties of the gray sunrise and a new day coming to life.

… Still too early for a bagel at Grumblefish (reason enough to make the drive over to the coast on a Sunday morning), but that is the next stopping point for my painting day on the coast. 😁 I know my Traveling Partner would give me grief if I fail my self-care so simply as not having a bite of breakfast. (Although subjectively I’m pretty certain artists can survive on little more than coffee and insomnia, my sensible side assures me this is nonetheless a really poor practice. 😆)

A passing stranger doing clean up around this small park crossly advises me that “the tables aren’t for sitting on” as she passes me, after I had wished her a pleasant good morning. I smile back unbothered, “I’m pretty sure I’m not hurting this sturdy table by sitting on it, Ma’am, and nothing on any of the signage nor any of the state park guidelines prohibit it,” I answered – pleasantly, I hope. I wasn’t seeking to take a tone, but g’damn, fuck her silly bullshit anyway. 😂 She walked away muttering crossly, which I ignored completely. Generally, the appropriate response to “good morning” – or other well wishes – is to return the fucking sentiment. LOL No wonder the world is such a mess. We lack simple decency and basic manners.

… Well, that and all the violence, bombing, and killing, and drone warfare, and such, pretty sure that’s not helping…

A gull lands on the table next to me. Meaning, specifically, it landed on this table I’m sitting on, next to me. It looked me over curiously (probably wondering if I brought snacks). I looked back.  The gull seemed curious about my phone, making one attempt to take it from me. “Dude ! It’s not a snack!” I exclaimed. I made a point of holding my phone more securely. We sat watching the waves roll in for a little while, before my fearless feathered companion finally took flight, just as I tried to take its picture.

Morning colors develop, the horizon becomes clear and distinct.

Minutes pass uncounted, I write, meditate, and enjoy the dawn of a new day. It feels satisfying and uplifting. I feel the weight of the world diminish. I feel joyful and light, breathing the sea air. For a time, I don’t hear my tinnitus. My pain feels minimal and well-managed. Only 30 minutes between now and a great bagel, too… Seems like a good time to begin again, I guess. I grab my cane and hop down from my perch on this table. The clock is ticking, and life doesn’t wait.

Who knows when it may rain again – or when that ticking clock might stop?