Let the sunshine in

Color of lemon, mango, peach,
These storybook villas
Still dream behind
Shutters, their balconies
Fine as hand-
Made lace, or a leaf-and-flower pen-sketch.

Tilting with the winds,
On arrowy stems,
Pineapple-barked,
A green crescent of palms
Sends up its forked
Firework of fronds.

A quartz-clear dawn
Inch by bright inch
Gilds all our Avenue,
And out of the blue drench
Of Angels’ Bay
Rises the round red watermelon sun.

Sylvia Plath, Southern Sunrise

We made it riding nearly 20 miles along the coast today. The sun was merciless, but it felt amazing to be back at the beach. I am happily sunburned. We stopped into the beachfront store of a local winery and bought wine slushies (I don’t even care how gauche that sounds) to drink as we rode. There was a ton of traffic along the A1A – both cars and people on the bike paths – and every roadside picnic bench was full of families eating out. Literally every single one. I am hoping this is a good sign for the local economy – that we will be slammed with new business once everyone is free to live on their own terms.