Christmas Day

Life under the bridge… 

I was going to post a pic of the man under the bridge but it felt to invasive

It’s a beautiful morning. Temperatures are in the lower 60s. The sunrise is filtered through puffy clouds coming in off the Atlantic. With my coffee in hand I sit up top watching the world wake up from the anchorage alongside the side of the bridge. Watching the water rush under the bridge through the pilings, my eyes follow the water to the shore where the bridge ends. I can see under the bridge to the other side and notice movement and a couple of bikes in the grass. It occurs to me that people have spent the night there.I watch a couple of people bundle up their belongings and hide them in the bushes. I catch myself wondering who they are, why they’re there, what led them there and how long have they been there, doing this? Two people huddle off after stowing their stuff from view, but another person is still there hunched in the grass, next to the cement pilings of the bridge. I wonder what had made these people lose their anchor in life? Are they living a vagabond life by choice? Circumstance? Did they know that this was Christmas morning? Was there even anyone that cared if they were alive or dead??? I briefly wonder if I should make sandwiches and leave them in their hidden belongings? Do I have anything of value that I could leave them that they might be able to use? Would it be an affront? I don’t know… If these are homeless people, sometimes they can be quite proud. I don’t want to insult them. I can’t keep my eyes away. Right now we also are living under the bridge, but under totally different circumstances. I don’t know what theirs is; I’m not sure how either of us came to this place and time. I do know that I have a few people that love me. I hope that they do too.

Life under the bridge.

The air smells sweet and feels cool as I inhale, appreciating the morning, the coffee and the man sitting next to me in the cockpit on this peaceful morning.

While I miss loved ones at home, I love this morning.

I’m here. I’m glad to be alive.

It was nice to be able to chat with my family this morning. It was weird though because when I tried calling Steph I got a busy signal twice (an hour apart). I didn’t know cell phones did that. I always thought that the call would go immediately to voicemail. Wayne figured that all the circuits were busy (made sense). Lonnie’s home for the holidays and it sounds like all is right for my sis with him home and Steph going over there! I reminded Pen to take a picture of the two of them for me – it feels good thinking of them together for the holidays!

We took a walk along the beach this morning with Mary & Axel. I can’t believe how clean it was. They evidently clean it up for the tourists! While there was some small man-o-war washed up with flotsam, there was a lack of shells, debris and what I was in search of, sea glass. I was surprised to see that most of the businesses were open on Christmas day. I’m so used to everything being closed on Christmas. I guess since this is a tourist destination, they stay open. We stopped at one little place that had advertised “fish tacos – 2 for $6” and were the only patrons there. This was a little German place, off the main strip, and the tacos were wonderful. Kind of a different kind of breakfast for me – Mahi tacos! After strolling the beach and people watching it was time for a shower, and to get the turkey breast in the oven.

I thought I might try something a little different with the stuffing this year. I used coconut water to make it and it was actually kind of tasty! I wasn’t sure how long it would take my little alcohol stove to come up to temperature for the turkey, but after 2 hours (I’ll bet Laura’s oven was faster than mine), the turkey was ready to take out for transport over to Azaya’s for dinner.

It was wonderful to share Christmas dinner with Mary & Axel, a regular Christmas feast! We had turkey, stuffing, potatoes with gravy, and sweet potatoes with cranberry and pecans, green beans, and pecan pie. Wash that down with some wine from Cherry Creek Vinyards, mix in great company and conversation and it was a wonderful day culminating with an awesome dinner!

Merry Christmas.