A Patch of Blue

It is Haibun Monday and "January" is the prompt.

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A Patch of Blue

Gulls still nest in the thicket on the lane by the old beach house, the walls wherein I spent my childhood days. The cherry orchard muffles the sound of waves.  Each year I return to the small beach town and revisit the past and restore my soul. On this particular day, morning fog parts to a patch of blue. I am exhilarated as I walk the four blocks to buy coffee.

It rarely snows at the ocean, but in January the ubiquitous wetness and cold combine with gale winds to create a blistering sleet.  Most days are marked by dark clouds meeting the horizon, the sea and sky and pavement, all darker shades of cheerless grey. Of all the hours in a day, only a few are actual daylight, so it might as well be night.

Sitting by a fire ablaze, open book on my lap, I see the hallway where we used to slide across the floor in stocking feet, the bench seat in which we used to hide. I see loved ones rapping on the door, arriving to welcoming arms. My senses are  aroused by familiar, easy surroundings,  the fresh smell of  linens on the beds, the reckless feel of gritty sand on the floor, and the sound of hungry birds calling  overhead. Over time, one becomes set in his ways. January is full of the past, much in the present, and offers hints of the future.

All I've ever been,

The sea's where I want to be.

All I am is here