{ When you ditch the morning routine... }

One morning this week, on a whim, I ditched my normal routine and headed out the door as soon as Mike had left for work. The weather has been gorgeous lately, which is another way of saying that if you try to find a parking spot at the nearby beach during prime afternoon/evening hours, you can't. It's impossible. You could drive in circles for hours looking for an empty spot, or you could give up and park a few blocks up the hill. In general, by the time it's both (a) afternoon, and (b) hot, my hips feel far too pregnant to park up the hill and haul myself down to the beach and back up.

Plan B: Go first thing in the morning. Pack up Bible and journal and pen. Score a prime parking spot {because there are only four other cars in the whole lot} facing the water. Stay in car because it's bitter cold with that vigorous spring breeze blowing in off the Sound. Read Romans. Watch the people: walkers and bird-watchers and garbage-gatherers and dog-walkers and newspaper-readers. Read some stories from The Jesus Storybook Bible out loud to Lainie. Brave the cold to walk down the beach for a few minutes and take photos. Decide I should do this more often.