From my balcony 10/28/11

• 6:30am  Change is coming.  No rain yet, but the air is clammy cool.  My body aches:  low back, right foot, head.  Don't feel like beachwalking, not now.  Mother Ocean looks huge, stretching solid black from white froth to jagged crown of the cloudline.
• The monstrous beachcomber looks like a locomotive rolling down the sand, scraping away yesterday's sneaker art.
• Two beachwalkers train their flashlight on the ocean's edge.  Whether looking for shells or to avoid jellyfish, I don't know.  Their laughter carries through the stiff breeze to my 7th floor balcony, a welcome contrast to Mother Ocean's darkness and my aching.
• 7:25am  Sunbella begins her appearance from deep behind the cloud bank, splashing Pepto pink on a few tendrils that hang over center stage and sporadic puff clouds way up higher.  A group of four stands shivering on the sand in front of Hurl Rocks Park, flashing photos, determined to see Sunbella's show.
• 7:34am  Camera flashes pop rapidly now.  Sunbella appears as an orange frown atop the mounded cloud bank, then reveals her full glory.  And she's up.  The determined foursome was not disappointed.  Gorgeous sunrise.  The day begins.