the best morning

10/14/2015
I was awakened from my deep sleep by a soft sound. I willed my eyes to open and stared into the dark for a moment, turning slightly to read the green lit numbers on the clock which flashed brightly, 5:55. I saw his silhouette walk out of the bathroom and head for the duffel bag on the couch.

"Good morning." We greeted each other. I opened my cell phone and turned off my alarm that was set to go off in less than three minutes. I stood and met him at the couch, where we both found our clothes packed neatly, and got dressed.

We snuck out of the cabin stealthily into the dark cool aired morning. We drove to the gas station and poured freshly brewed steaming hot highlander grogg into large styrofoam cups, where I didn't realize until my cup towered next to his that I accidentally filled a massive 24 ounce cup. Note to self: don't drink the whole thing!

We hopped back in the car and drove down a winding road next to lake houses for a few minutes before finding our turn off. We drove slowly past some campers and tents filled with their sleeping tenants. We parked in front of a fat, tall tree filled with golden yellow leaves, only we didn't know they were so golden yellow at the time as it was still pitch dark.

It was warmer than I had expected, 45 degrees warm. We bundled in our layers and our beanies and hiked the kayaks down to the beach. The sky started to lighten oh so faintly at the beginning ascent of the sun somewhere behind the mountains, so although we were a good thirty minutes ahead of schedule, we hustled to climb into our kayaks and paddle out farther onto the lake.

While the soft waves lapped against my kayak, the perfect quiet surrounding us was placid, the peace in the air practically tangible. I occasionally sipped my coffee, the styrofoam emitting the heat perfectly to warm my hands as they cupped it. I kept my phone in a ziplock bag in the pocket of my jacket, easily accessible so I could snap pictures as the dark sky slowly changed into a mixture of bright pink and golden hues.

Not long after the sun found it's perch just above the mountain tops the wind had picked up considerably, rocking our kayaks and blowing us farther down the shoreline than we had hiked in from, so we decided to paddle to the shore and spend the rest of the morning on the beach. We sat in the sand while letting the suns rays blanket us with their warmth. We watched a lone seagull playing in the fierce wind next to us, at one point dropping straight to our eye level and riding the wind just in front of us. I looped my arm through his and rested my cheek against his shoulder, closing my eyes into the sunlight while the wind whipped my hair behind my back, and I told him, "wouldn't it be lovely if we could bottle this moment up, and anytime life was stressful or discouraging or hard we could come right back here? this is perfect."










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