Spoiled for Choice..

The sunrise was quite wonderful his morning...I noted from my living room window that the sky was absolutely spectacular, but by the time I got my shoes on and got through all the rush-hour commuter traffic heading for the freeway, and through stoplights that prefer red to green, I had missed "spectacular" and had to do with just "glorious! 

It was a Pick a Colour, Any Colour type of morning.. "Marion, do you like this Blue, with a touch of Purple and Mauve? No? Not a problem... What about dazzling gold? Just wait a couple of minutes ...Glorious Gold  is about to take over from that blue....Or do you prefer a more subtle, soft, pastel  palette? Turn around and look behind you..Voila! Pretty in Pink! Take your pick...any photo you take this morning cannot help but be to your liking!" (see extra) 

My favourite though, is the one I took as the sunrise colours were fading, because it caught the man with his canoe. There is a story behind that one.. The man is homeless. He lives in his Silverado pickup truck with a wooden box on the back and lately he has been hanging out down there, setting up a shelter on the beach with his canoe. I remember him from another beach I used to go to for photos where he had set up a shelter..a more private beach than this one.  

The homeless issue has become more evident everywhere it seems these last few years. A very sad situation that is difficult to address. I spent some time on my last sunrise visit to the beach chatting with a very caring security guard who is currently working for the cafe that is now set up down there. He has been trying, unsuccessfully, to help this fellow who at times apparently can be belligerent and as a result, has finally been told by the by-law folks and perhaps by the police to vacate the area by the end of the week; so he is not getting his canoe ready to go for a peaceful morning paddle..he is packing his things up to leave..and to where? It is sad to contemplate...

Feeling a little sad, I drove home to go shopping for groceries which are now ridiculously inflated in price, but still, I was intending to splurge anyway on a few extra treats as it is Thanksgiving of course, and then home to welcome my friend Mary who was to arrive later in the afternoon. Our special Thanksgiving dinner will be purchased from a caterer as neither one of us wanted to cook...We will plan some outings and buy tickets to book talks or art museums or whatever..We are spoiled for choice for Thanksgiving celebrations and for our time together.

The contrast with my Thanksgiving and the homeless man's Thanksgiving was a stark reminder that some of us have been much more fortunate than others...for who knows why this man is where he is.  I imagine that a lot of it has to do with the luck of the draw. That young  security guard with his degree in criminology and social work who had the opportunity to go to university and the choice of what to do with his life, (he chose to be a security guard - it was not for lack of choice) does not refer to people like this man as homeless..but as less-fortunate and I think he has a point...

And so on this upcoming Thanksgiving holiday weekend, some of us have a lot to be thankful for.....