Sunrises…Key West Has Great Sunrises too!

Yes… we all know that Key West is home to the best sunsets in the world. Ok, I may be partial, but if you’ve ever seen one of our famous sunsets, you will probably agree that they are up there close to the top of the list. If you’ve been to Mallory Square and celebrated the sun going down, you know how excited the crowd is to see the end of the day and welcome that transition to the start of a Duval Street evening.

What you may not know is that Key West has amazing sunrises as well. I happen to love both sunrises and sunsets in Key West, and I don’t take for granted at all that I live in a beautiful island where I can enjoy both pleasures.

It’s a peaceful crowd at the Key West Aids Memorial Pier. As I glance around at the others who are also taking in that salty breeze, and I’m glad it’s not just I who has their hair whipping into a wild Medusa-looking frenzy. I can see that catching the sunrise by this special group of sunrise-seekers means something different for each of us. I came to just see the visual beauty and to clear my mind from the previous week’s stress. Breathe in deeply…exhale slowly…repeat. This feels go good. Why don’t I do this more often?

As I’m decluttering, this young twenty-something couple dance together to Bob Marley’s One World, and I can’t help but smile to see the younger generation appreciating the good music of my parent’s generation. If only the entire would could live in the world that Bob Marley strived for with those powerful lyrics…

In our secret morning sunrise club, I see another group of people saying morning prayers, another group of cyclists getting ready to hit the road again, and a woman sitting alone crying gently to herself. I can almost feel the saltwater washing away her worries and it makes me realize that we all need a good cleansing of the soul or purging of the mind; garbage out.

There are some dark clouds along the horizon, which means we won’t see the first clip of the morning sun bursting into the sky like a flamboyant drag queen entering the stage. But it’s ok. It’s beautiful, nonetheless. As the sun sneaks up behind those clouds, the water has reflections of bright yellows and flamingo pinks with a hint of honey reflecting brilliantly off of our seafoam green ocean.

Just as in life, i didn’t get what I wanted this morning, but for this hour, I got so much; time for myself away from my gadgets of social media sucking both my brain cells and precious time that I will never get back, (nor ever remember). I got a cleansing of my mind, my soul and my body, and who doesn’t need that every once in awhile? And I do feel free, happy and healthy. Euphoric. Happy. Oh, I said that already, didn’t I? It’s the best word to describe how I feel as I get back on my bike to go eat breakfast. A simple word that many don’t ever really feel. Happiness.

It’s time for breakfast, so I’ll leave you with these famous words of Mick Jagger, “you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need.”

Peace and love,  

Marjorie Spoto |  Editor & CEO of PartyinKeyWest.com