When I sat down to write this, I realized that I have actually lived on Nantucket longer than I lived in my home state of North Carolina. That is mind boggling to me. I guess I really do love living on Nantucket, even with all of the “issues” that go along with island living. I have always been drawn to the ocean. As I child, we were always at the beach in North Carolina. And as I teen, I would go down to the beach so many weekends. So I guess it is not surprising that I fell in love with and ended up settling down for the long haul on this sweet little spot of sand.
One of my favorite aspects of Nantucket has to be the sunsets and even more so, the sunrises. Many years ago, two things occurred to me. First was that weeks and sometimes months would go by and I had not seen even a glimpse of the ocean. Why was I living on an island if I was not appreciating that I was surrounded by water?! And I also realized that as a working mother, if I was going to exercise, I would have to do it while the rest of the world was sleeping or it just would not happen. So a friend and I decided to walk every morning at 5:00 AM. We had no idea that a whole beautiful untapped side of Nantucket would open up to us.
The sunrises out over the water at Surfside are stunning. Sometimes the audacity of the colors will astound me. Other times the subtle quiet of the rising sun will make me sigh. As many years and as many mornings as I have experienced them, I am still so taken aback by the beauty and the colors and the sometimes gentle rising of the sun we all crave. And each season holds its own lovely unveiling of the sun each morning. When it is 10 degrees, blowing wind driven snow and everything seems to be frozen and hunkered down for the winter (except for the two crazy ladies bracing against the cold), there will be a perfect sunrise to remind me why in the world I am out there that time of day in the elements. Or in the Fall, when the colors seem to be at their sharpest, I just have to stop and stare and take it all in. Spring, obviously, is always exciting as I feel that first spot of warm sun on my face. And summer is always fun because we see more and more people out and enjoying the same splendor of the beach so early in the morning.
It is well worth the effort to be out and appreciating the show that Mother Nature puts on for us so many mornings. And I have not seen it quite so spectacular as I have seen it here….
I also have to say that one of the draws to living on Nantucket for me is the wonderful sense of community and giving that we are all blessed with here. I have been so overwhelmed so many times by the generosity and caring nature and camaraderie in times of trouble by my fellow islanders. It is truly a comfort and a joy to see when the wagons circle around those in need here.
