Duck Beach 2014

Yes.  It's true.  I traveled to Duck Beach again this year.  The Outer Banks of North Carolina is such a beautiful region.  In fact, it is one of my favorite places on earth.  I love to watch the pelicans soar peacefully across the sky, or swoop down close to the breaking waves.  I love to watch little crabs scurry across the beach, or disappear into their holes in the sand.  I even love to watch the wind toss frothy waves of a tempestuous ocean to and fro, or blow billowing thunder clouds, charged with lightning, across the sky.  What a glorious earth!  To think, this planet is but a speck in the infinite expanse of the universe!  But what a speck!

This year I decided to go on an adventure.  Rather than fly toward the East, as I have done in previous years, I opted to drive across the country in my 1993 Honda Civic Del Sol.  From Provo to Denver, from St. Louis to Norfolk, my little white steed and I made the trek to Corolla, North Carolina.  The beautiful country side rushed by while I listened to the entire unabridged edition of The Count of Monte Cristo on CD.

This year I was fortunate enough to stay in a beach house called The Ritz with a group of stellar young men and women.  Before the residents began to arrive I took a short trip to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, the northernmost lighthouse of the Outer Banks.  Subsequently, there was the usual rollicking and frolicking upon the beach, the beach volleyball, the glow-in-the-dark dancing, the barbecues, the hot-tubbing and the various and sundry vacation shenanigans.  There were also the added bonuses of watching the NBA playoffs, eating delicious food, and exploring the sand dunes.  In the midst of all of the ruckus, I made sure to find some time to be still, to read (I also finished reading J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye), to walk on the beach, to sit by the ocean, and to listen.

As this excursion to Duck Beach draws to a close, and as the participants slowly begin to trickle back to their homes, I feel gratitude for the beauty of the earth, the beauty of the sky, and the beauty of each hour.  I feel grateful for this beautiful region on this beautiful speck that we call earth. Onward and upward!