Moonrise. . . .Sunrise

From the East, a glowing sphere rose
From the darkness of the night to kiss
The water below.

The barely waning moon
held captive the dark waves as we walked along
the sand, holding hands -- laughing, chatting,
Being together. Looking out, it
Appeared the moon painted the fingernails
Of the ocean, and now it crept forward
With provocative playfulness, tickling the
Sand with silver-tinged tips. Night
played peek-a-boo with light as shadows
Danced on the sparkling strand, punctuated
By occasional fireworks up and down the beach.

The man in the moon smiled down on lovers and families
As he lit their way and moved across the sky.

As he neared the West, the light appeared again
In the East, a gray light with shades of pink
That darkened the waves into an angry froth
and began the battle for the sky. Soon
a neon sphere emerged from the horizon,
Announcing its arrival with hues of lavenders,
Pinks, and reds, releasing daylight to cover
Our world with light and heat and sunshine.

All Night Long

Last night I fulfilled a promise. Sometimes my husband gets glimpses of someone I used to be (a very long time ago. . . .) and wonders what happened to that Tonnye. A case in point most recently was when he discovered I had spent a whole night walking on the beach with a guy friend when I was 20ish. He felt left out, and whined a little. . . it wasn't jealousy, per se. It was just something he would LOVE to do with me, too. So I promised. Last night after a mini-shopping excursion, we had pizza at Giorgio's @ North Myrtle, and then settled in for our all-night vigil on the beach. We took beach towels and a cooler, and began walking. We found a place to settle our things, lay down for a while and looked out at the ocean and up at the moon, which was really beautiful, just on the waning side of full, so it provided much light. We hung out in our spot or walked from about 8:30 - 11ish. We were right at Ocean Drive Pavilion, so we went in to use the restroom. There were a few shaggers on the floor, so we sat and watched -- even joined them in a couple of dances (My FHU friends can read that as choreography if you need to ;~) We enjoyed the music and the breeze, and saw some new steps we really need to try. Around 12:30, we headed back out to the beach -- walked, talked, and enjoyed God's incredible majesty -- laid on our towels and chatted, watched fireworks, and watched the condo lights go out 1 by 1. Around 2 we decided to leave for a bit -- the pavilion had closed up, and we needed a restroom and a break, so we hit Denny's -- had Grand Slams in the middle of the night, talked about wishes and dreams, and then headed back to the beach to watch the sun rise. Eventually it did, and it was quite lovely. Shane watches sunrise on the beach quite often, but not being such a morning person, it's more rare for me ;~). It was a special treat. We were collecting seashells as the sun came up and the tide came in. I didn't get to see any dolphins, which was perhaps my only disappointment. . . .We left the beach at 7:00 this morning, having had a really wonderful relaxing night with nowhere we had to go and a committment to enjoy it to its fullest. I must confess that as soon as I was in the car, however, I was out like a light. When we got home, I stumbled in long enough to get to the bed, and slept until time for church. I defer to my husband's youthful exuberance -- not even a nap for him -- until about 4:00, when he crashed and is still asleep. It was a good idea, a good promise to keep, and a good night -- all night long!