Haibun Thinking – Week 14

© Sally – My Beautiful Things

Dawn over the sea, gulls over-head.  One of the most beautiful ways to wake up in the morning.

Years ago, we spent a few weeks camping on an isolated beach down in Calabria (Italy) on the Ionian sea.  Every morning a shepherd passed not far from our camp with his flock of sheep.  He was a living alarm clock, his passage meant it was time to get up and prepare breakfast.

The air was cold at that hour of the morning, even though it was August, the hottest month of the year.  The gulls dove into the sea fishing, or maybe they were scavenging what the fishermen left after their late night catch.  We saw their lights out on the sea every evening from 11:00 onwards.

We’d take a walk along the beach after our first cup of coffee, which we prepared over a Coleman burner, it was too cold to swim.  Then we’d eat our breakfast, fix up our improvised sun hut made of old straw mats people had abandoned,  rig the sail to the wind-surf.  After a swim we’d add a new bit to our growing sculpture.  Little things.

Later in the day, we’d go to the nearby public beach and wash off the day’s accumulation of salt from our skin…then have dinner at a “trattoria“.  Or maybe we’d just go to the local store and buy something to grill over an open fire and eat under the stars.

It was a wonderful adventure.  After three weeks though, I was happy to return to my green mountains.

gulls shepherd and wind
red tinted clouds crashing waves
dawn over the Ionian sea

Sun hut in the morning

Written for Haibun Thinking – Photo Prompt