One could not possibly covet a more providential day than today! It’s Sunday morning.  I arose early and without contrition.  It wasn’t always so. The sun was shining luminously. And my decomposing carcass felt uniquely functional.  Perhaps it was because at 4:00 am this morning when as is my custom I awoke to take my first dose of prescription drugs, I afterwards sprawled upon my lair and administered to my aching calves a half hour of Theragun technology. It worked!  Who thinks this stuff up! The treatment induced an immediate soporific state.

After finally awakening it was but a lively skip to and from the shower and basin and thence to the car wash to pursue my adjunct ceremony of sorcery. The shaded avenues of Sea Pines were filtered with beams of yellow sunshine. On the pathways there were the occasional early morning runners and dog walkers, serene and dedicated in their own spirituality. The chill of the air was evident. But the unmistakeable clear blue sky foiled all qualification.  This was the Sacrament of Heaven!

For breakfast we rode our bicycles to Lowcountry Produce Market & Café, 71 Lighthouse Road. The place was humming.  The staff exhibited that buoyancy that radiates from popularity. We have been putting on the nosebag at Lowcountry since our first appearance in Sea Pines ten years ago or more. The food is good and this morning was no exception.  Especially the bacon! And the homemade biscuit with butter and thick blueberry jam.

In an exhibition of Olympic resolve we remounted our bikes and headed to Tower Beach. The high tide was not until 11:00 am.  At South Beach the surf is such that it curls the water around the tip of the Island and heaves sand back onto the shore.  As a result traveling upon the shore before low tide is tricky and frequently entails having to walk the bike around the bend before gaining the smooth sand sufficient for cycling. In any event the 5km jaunt to Tower Beach was pleasant and I was content merely to glimpse the beach at high tide, to see and hear the crashing waves.

After lingering on the wooden swinging chairs on the boardwalk, we parted ways.  I am passionate about the sun; and I have a disdainful disregard for its potentially damaging effects.  Putatively I merely intended to stroll to the end of the boardwalk, there to capture a brief view of the sea. I ended reclined upon the beach, my eyes closed, faced into the white glistening orb, the wind, the sounds of the sea and the sting of the infinitesimal particles of sand about me. What blissful indolence! It was only when I heard the distant sound of young voices frolicking at the shore that I awoke from my reverie.

The ride homeward was strangely soothing, as though I had accomplished something. What it is that works this enchantment, these happenstance moments is unfathomable. It took pecan clusters to convince me of my attainment.