A new dawn, a new day, a new season!

Somehow the start of May has just been all that much sweeter this year: the long-awaited spring after a cold and icy winter. It's here!

For weeks, Friday May 16 was circled and highlighted on my calendar as my much-anticipated first morning of walking in zone 0, on the north end, with my trash bag. So I was a little concerned when I was kept awake for much of the night before by torrential rain and roaring thunder. At 5:30 a.m., I grimly pulled on a hat and my raincoat and made my way toward the beach.

Wouldn't you know it, though, just minutes after I arrived, as dawn began to break, the heavy, dense fog that was blanketing the shoreline was sucked out over the Atlantic like a giant plume of smoke. The dark gray clouds began to roll rapidly across the sky. And as I walked along, the sun began to peek through the beautiful storm clouds. It was really just breathtaking, and much to my surprise, it was a gorgeous morning to be on the beach.

As I walked, I quickly noticed that the stormy weather from the night before had deposited a lot of garbage along the shore, especially tangled within large clumps of sea grass.

But it also left some beautiful treasures, and I was super excited to find a whole sand dollar.

My litter total for the day included:
-7 cigarette butts
-1 drink packet
-1 goggles band (but no goggles)
-1 broken shovel
-1 drink lid
-2 plastic water bottles
-1 balloon string (but no balloon)
-3 beer cans
-6 plastic bags
-various bits and chunks of unidentifiable plastic

Peace,
Susan