Each year, my wife and I spend a week at the beach. More specifically, at the Cavalier by The Sea motel, milepost 8.5 on the beach road in Kill Devil Hills. We stay in a beachfront efficiency. Until a tall building was built a few years ago, we could see the Wright Brothers monument from our kitchen window.
In my younger days, I would occasionally drag myself from bed to see the sunrise. Now in my not-so-younger days, my biorhythms have changed drastically. Wherever I am, I am up in time to witness the coming of the morning’s light. Thus, for many years, when at the beach, by the time the sun rises, I’ve been out enjoying the colorful preshow for an hour or so.
All photos copyright John W. Becton, 2024
Watching the sun rise provides a lesson in patience. It happens when the Earth rotates far enough. No matter how anxious you are to see it, you can’t make the sun appear a second sooner. Yet, the time of anticipation provides me practice in living in the moment. Each moment leading up to the sunrise can be enjoyed. I find that this approach makes the sunrise itself even more dramatic and fulfilling.
It’s a spiritual experience for me. At the beach, it is also a communal experience. There are others out for the same reason as I. I occasionally speak briefly with one or two and rarely ever know any of them personally. Yet I feel connected to them all.
You have to be attentive. Once that first sliver of light appears, everything happens quickly. The full Sun clears the horizon in a minute or so.
Just as you can’t jump in the same river twice, you see a specific sunrise only once.
John B's blog 
One thought on “Beach sunrises”