Morning

Occasionally one of those days dawns that just begs to be put to good use, to go down in your memories, to live an adventure. Perhaps you saw the first glimmers of the sun, or maybe, like me, you awoke to see sunshine streaming through the blinds, twisting, bending, contorting itself around those very shades meant to block it out. But it would not be blocked. I like these mornings. A deep sigh, contented, delighted and refreshed that I actually was not awakenedbefore the sun came up. Amazed that I slept through the night, uninterrupted, and can enjoy the beauty of bright California sun with a yet quiet house. Still, peaceful, calm.

Soon the day begins, with its various needs and demands and responsibilities--but there was that initial calm. That beautiful calm.

And this particular day is just too stunning, too summery, too beautiful to be spent indoors, to fall into oblivion.

"The morning is when you charge into the future."

It did not take much conferring for Nathanael and me to decide that today ought not be spent indoors or at home or working or doing the same old. And so we spontaneously decided to claim our adventure ticket before it left home without us.

We walked the two blocks from our house to the train platform and boarded the train to Santa Barbara, whereabouts we took a stroll along the beach, walked down the pier, ate Clam Chowder and fish & chips (respectively), let Layla crawl along the waterfront, and generally had a most delightful time with each other.

And here I shall stop my rambling and let the photographs speak for themselves.