Waking Up in Galveston- Question Mark

I could hear the waves as the cool morning air came through the open door leading out to the patio from the room where I slept.  I awoke several times at night. I had my blinds open, wanting desperately to watch the sun rise through my bedroom window in this wonderful birthday retreat.

This morning my girls and I gathered in my room 15 floors up on the beach in Galveston, Texas.  Ann peeked in first.

“Are you awake?”

I had already turned around upside down on my bed and covered my legs, grabbing my camera, not wanting to miss the sunrise.  “Come in” I replied, “ This is incredible”

“I didn’t want you to miss it.”  She said.

Wrapped in a red flannel blanket and walking in slowly, reverently Ann knelt down before the large picture window and balanced her elbows on the ledge as if she were going to pray. Perhaps she did in her own way. Sunny showed up next, climbing up onto the large bed.   It is a task getting into it, but I’m happy for it’s height, for there is a purpose. It raises me so that I can sit in bed, and watch the surf, the horizon, the many ships passing in the shipping lane so far out, and the little tiny dogs running and sniffing on the beach.

The waves come into shore in scallops, coming and coming and coming again.  Four lines of white foam are constant, never moved by the scalloped edges.  Farther out white caps peek up and down again as if they are in their own private game of hide-go seek.

What made the morning complete was a cup of hot tea. Started by my friend. “Let me make you your first cup of tea that you drink in your 50’s” she said.
As we three girls sat and watched and waited, a small single little cloud in the shape of a tiny question mark glistened brightly just above where the sun was going to rise. “ Happy birthday.  What do I have in store for you?”  God seemed to be saying.  It was not an ominous question but a playful question, one that you can’t wait to unwrap, to figure, and to explore.   We wait a good 45 minutes watching the sky go from mauve to pink to a hint of red and then applauded a simple rising of a sun. Something that happens every day, but this morning it was an event. Our faces shone a bright red as the ceremony reflected upon our own countenance.  Once it was over, the three of us retreated into our own rooms They to sleep, me to write. The dust flecks glistening like stars on my computer screen with a sun that is now fully awake.

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Bridgette Mongeon is a sculptor, writer and educator as well as a public speaker. Her blog can be found at https://creativesculpture.com. She is also the owner and creator of the God’s Word Collectible Sculpture series Follow the artists on twitter twitter.com/Sculptorwriter twitter.com/creategodsword Facebook http://www.facebook.com/bridgette.mongeon Listen to The Creative Christian Podcast or the Inspiration/Generation Podcast Click on Podcast Host Bios for a listing of all podcasts Listen to the Art and Technology Podcast