Today is Sunday. I slept late, drained of both inclination and strength for activity. I wrestled with guilt and logic, trying to justify my tardiness and lethargy, but they eventually won. Resigning myself to duty, I abandoned my lair for morning ablutions and dressing.

The weather mirrored my mood—grey and misty until late afternoon. A severe thunderstorm struck around noon, the rain hammering against the second-floor roof. After breakfast, I lounged in a comfortable chair, idly fussing with my iPad. But by two o’clock, precisely as forecasted, the sky cleared, and so did my apathy. Movement suddenly beckoned. A tricycle ride seemed the perfect compromise—moderate exertion, nothing too ambitious, just more than sitting.

As I pedaled along S. Sea Pines Drive, two realizations struck me. First, I had overcome whatever hesitation I previously harboured about tricycling on Hilton Head Island – until our arrival here I had predominantly confined my rides at home to the basement garage. Second, the crisp, clean azure sky called me to the beach. Determined, I considered my options for the best access path.

Before heading to the shore, I committed to a minimum athletic effort, following the sidewalk along S. Sea Pines Drive. At the 30-minute mark—recognizing, as always, that I had to return as well—I turned past Sprunt Pond Road onto S. Beach Lane, where I found Beach Access 22. Among the many access points, this one struck a balance: not too long or hilly, though not ideal for a tricycle. The paved walkway was narrow, but the pine needle-covered ground offered just enough support for my ride.

The moment I crested the sand dunes and seized the much-vaunted perspective of the open sea I was at peace. Whatever anxiety had so annoyingly stifled me and shackled my humour earlier this morning had happily relented.

The instant I inhaled the sea air and absorbed the singular features of the sprawling beach, the vast open sky and the windswept sea grasses it was heavenly, an immediate restoration to incontrovertible bliss. Harmony soared from the earth to the sky, welcoming me with its seagulls, wind and roaring ocean. I was released from constraints. The purpose of life was no longer a sorrowful source of melancholy. Duty and obligation dissolved into the elixir of imagery and salt sea air. The vastness of the North Atlantic Ocean laid the plateau of contentment within my now boundless soul.