The First Day

In the last days of 2015 there were several ideas of "resolutions", or goals, running through my head for the new year. From the obvious (lose ten pounds! draw every day!) to the ambitious (create a daily photo journal of gratitude) and strict (do x for 30 minutes a day, and y for 30 minutes a day, followed by z for 30…), I was clearly going to need to make a daily schedule.

Ugh. Not the most appealing way to start the new year.

Then, for New Year's Eve, we went to the Black Light Hot Yoga class (who knew THAT existed?). 

Photocredit: www.yogatrail.com

The instructor had just one goal for herself in 2016. She wanted to be kinder.  I gladly discarded my laborious plan and stole her idea. Resolved:  to be kinder to myself, to others (people, animals, the planet). There. Much better. 

So on the first day…
we went for a long walk on the beach…

…which was kind to Toby, right?

 and kind to myself, since it's something I enjoy and good exercise. There were lots of interesting things to see. Toby posed by a big heart-shaped sand castle on the lonely beach.

There were purple jellyfish, big and small, that the tide left behind as it went out. 

The tide also washed a lot of trash onto the sand.  I picked up an unopened bag of Fritos, a plastic cigarillo tip, a bait container, and the usual assorted wrappers, straws, butts, bottles, and broken bits of plastic. 

Someone has been planting grass to prevent dune erosion. Winter's a good time for it. Maybe the grass can take hold before the summer crowds arrive. Despite all the signage there are always a few who can't resist climbing on the dunes. 

There was one hardy surfer, but no decent surfing waves. I think he was just out there because it was a cool thing to do for New Year's Day. He came ashore, poked his board into the sand beside him, and took a selfie with his back to the ocean. He was right too - it was a cool thing to do, full wetsuit and all!

And then there was the guy in shorts who stood by the sea and juggled. He was good at it. He was alone. What was that all about? Ten minutes later he left.

A couple of hours later we left too. It felt like we were off to a good start.

P.S. For those who know about my new camera - it was at home. These pictures were taken with my phone. It's a bit scary to take the big camera around all that sand.

But for Christmas I got a whole bunch of Great Courses DVD's with photography lectures by Joel Sartore. So stand by to see some of the homework in the future :)