Beach-themed Gratitude

Ten scenes from our time on Sunset Beach that made me smile and for which I give thanks.

1. Heavy, threatening clouds that dropped no rain.

2. Sharing an Italian ice - sold to us by the man with the heavy Massachusetts accent, the same man we met five years ago at his first Sunset Slush franchise on another road in Sunset Beach. This one is his third. Yummy! Good for him and his wife - that their business is growing so well. He gave us a free half scoop because he thought we'd like the flavor. He was right; we liked it a lot.

3. Watching our shadows lengthen as the evening sun began its descent.

4. Breakfast at the Sunset Inn alongside our talkative, friendly, funny fellow Inn-mates.

5. Rocking chairs on our screened-in porch. There was also a swing! (One morning, we noticed that the screen had pulled free of the frame and was flapping in the wind. We told the woman who was on duty at the front desk. When we returned after lunch, she told Kristiana that when the men went to repair the screen, they discovered that a bird was on the porch. We were glad that when they didn't open the door to the porch, the bird didn't fly into our room!)

6. The pier. I love walking under piers.

7. The small rock Kristiana found and I added to a stone altar at the end of the beach.

8. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, blue chips, and a bottle of hard cider for lunch.

9. I am profoundly allergic to cats, but my only reaction to this sign was a smile.
Sure enough, there were several cats in the grass next to the house on the left.

10. Three stunning and serene sunsets out over the marshes.