Our Daily Ocean: Day 173

Saturday was an especially amazing and fun day at Wrightsville Beach.  There were wispy cirrus clouds painted across the bluest of blue skies and the air was crisp and cool.  As my two boys and I walked south along the beach, they took advantage of the winter beach erosion and spent their time climbing up and jumping off the sand "cliffs"... nature's playground.

And while my boys played, another one of the most beautiful and awe inspiring natural phenomenons was taking place-- sundogs.  The first time I saw a sundog, I called it a fragment of a rainbow.  Over the years, I have viewed these little fragments as a metaphor for life: a reminder that rainbows are always there... we just have to be in the right place to see them.

On Saturday, I saw sundogs everywhere... I even saw a nearly complete halo of color circling the sun... And after I finished my beach clean up, I sat down on a park bench, let my head fall back and the sky smiled at me.... begging me to ask the question: What does it mean???  

To which I can only answer:  

We live in a great big beautiful world.... and it's worth protecting.

20 minutes on January 5, 2013 at Access 18

Litter by weight: 6 oz
Cigarette butts: 116

Total amount of cigarette butts removed from Wrightsville Beach, NC in 173 days:

53,842