Lookin' for Luck in all the right places...

A few phone calls back and forth with a friend feeling as indecisive as myself about midnight beaching finally resulted in a absolute yes. I do a lot of things, quite happily, by myself, but I've done this before by myself and didn't want to do it again that way...getting lucky is something to share, you understand.

We pre-arranged a meeting spot because it is dark on the beach at Flamenco, beautifully dark, and in other years there were big crowds that could make it difficult to find each other. Mission accomplished, the secret handshake done, we made it down the path by flashlight until a voice came out of the dark...."Turn your flashlight off, please!" I was happy to oblige, since we couldn't trip on anything except sand at that point. There were no big crowds to wade through this night.

With no moon and very little ambient light, the stars were insanely bright and beautiful, whole galaxies dancing over our heads, with the occasional shooting star. We immediately ran into some people we knew and joined them for the not too long wait until midnight. One of the group broke out a little bit early and hearing her voice full of laughter while she howled a little sea song brought a few more of us to our feet. While some kept an eye on the clock, it really wasn't needed because as the moment occured, farther down the beach the clear sound of yells and splashings were heard.

By that time we were thigh deep into heading backward into the sea, with bioluminescense sparking off our bodies, finally falling back completely to get up and do it again...and yet again, the traditional three times. The water temperature was, for the first time, warmer than the air and with no wind, calm and silky and full of light. Floating and looking up to the stars was a massive tranquility infusion. We could just feel the luck pouring in!

Back on the beach, we all sat talking and laughing and watching a group take care of their seriously inebriated friend. It was time to go home, another yearly marker drifting by. No pictures because...some things just have to be done without trying to capture them forever (however long that is). Thanks, amiga!

I wasn't quite ready to wake up at my usual dawn time, but the cat insisted, as usual, for a good reason. The sky, with a tropical wave moving through, was going all out with a color show. You'd never know now with the bright white sky of later morning, how incredible it looked only a short while ago. Good on ya, cat!