Still Beautiful

We headed to the coast for a weekend on the beach with friends. They have a charming vacation home with ocean views and a
private windswept path to the sand. The beach here rarely sees scorching temps in the summer so a trip in the winter calls for lots of layering. But the layers did nothing to protect us from the sandblasting we received as we crested the ridge where the path opens up to the ocean and gives way to the sand. The kids freaked and despite our attempts to shield them from the airborn sand, with the hopes that if we could just get them down by the water where the sand was wet and not blowing they'd be fine, they never recovered. The sand caked around their eyes where tears had formed and the grit in their mouths was just too much and called for an immediate return to the shelter of the indoors. This sweet lil owl (our friends' daughter) was the exception. She seemed
unaffected by the stinging of the sand and while the rest of us were walking backwards and covering our eyes she was happy
to flit around. On day two, the winds had calmed substantially and in their place...a light dusting of snow on the ground. But...
there was also this! Can't say I've ever been to the beach when there was snow on the ground and a rainbow in the sky. Now I have.
And while the beach is undeniably beautiful on a sun-drenched summer day, I think the same holds true of a gray sky winter morn.
Something cozy about bundling the babes up in hats and mittens
to experience the quite stillness of a winter morning even with ocean waves crashing. And the rainbow, well that was just the icing on the cake. (Yay God!)