but it also rises

the other day i went for a run on the beach. alameda beach is a little bit gross and i'm slightly afraid to dip my toes in the water there because it seems so polluted. it's sad. as i was running, i was looking at the sand in front of me, filled with tiny broken shells and seaweed and hamburger wrappers and french fry boxes. i was thinking about how beautiful alameda beach would be without all that trash. we should probably do something about that.

anyway. i was running. it was difficult to run! my feet kept sinking deep into the sand and i had to work ten times harder to cross the same distance i'd cross on flat land. i got to the curve in the beach and decided that'd be a good place to stop running. then i finally looked up from the sand for a minute and i saw the sky. it was glorious. the sun was just about to set and the sky was turning shades of pink and orange. the tide was low and the birds were waddling around in the muddy water. hardly anyone was on the beach because...well, who goes to the beach in february? and for a moment, it was just me and the setting sun. the setting sun representing all that i have loved and lost. all that i've been forced to let go of. all the dark times. it made me realize that yes,the sun does set. but it also rises. and i just stood there on the beach with my arms stretched out wide, feeling the last rays of the sun touch my skin before it disappeared behind the hills. i walked back to the other side of the beach with my toes splashing in the water, feeling perfectly content. then i went home to eat dinner with michael, the other sunshine in my life.