Vancouver is getting warm enough for me to relax a little. The sun dawns bright and early—like 5am early— and doesn't set until late—like after 9pm late. I bloom in sunlight, and ideally, plenty of it... so this schedule is ideal. The days are becoming reasonably warm, enough to for barefoot beach walks and late afternoon basking... I'm so grateful for the change of season.
Yesterday, after my summer course classes and my shift at work, I stopped by home to grab the cupcakes I'd baked and jug of sweet tea I'd brewed...and went down to the beach to meet some classmates that go to the church I've begun attending. It has been good starting to get to know this genuine and warm little group...feeling increasingly embraced in that context has done as much to ease my heart as the sunlit and warm beach has done to ease my Vancouver experience. It was such a beautiful night: warm and calm, not a breath of wind. We all positively reveled. We were marveling at the sunset, strolling the waters edge, immersed in conversations, aglow, awash, sitting in the sand until well after 9pm when the sunset began to cool to hazy fading blues. It was, as Lauren said, "a memory making sort of afternoon." I was barefoot and blessed, content in the moment and its company—sensing at last that there was more on the horizon than the sunset—there was hope.
