Groundhog Day, Schmoundhog Day...

My husband is out of town. We have two cats. They loooove him and ignore me unless I am the only one around when it is chow time.  They are pissed that he is not here. They have been banging around in my room after I fall asleep and realize that he is not coming home that night.  At 5:00 a.m., they start nudging me and making lots of noise so that I will have no choice but to feed them.  Yes 5:00 a.m.  I thought that the benefit to having teenagers in the house was everyone could sleep late but I guess that I was wrong.

This morning I made lemonade out of the stupid-cat-wake-me-up lemons.  I figured if I was already up, I'd head over to the beach and go for a ride.  Usually my bike rides are after 8 but riding on the broadwalk while the sun is rising is a real treat.

First of all, I did not realize that it was Groundhog Day. Here in South Florida, we don't really give a hoot about whether a rodent sees his shadow.  We really don't care if winter stays around for another six months. Our winter so far has consisted of a mix of hot and cold days. One day it is a low of 45 (It quickly gets up to at least 65). The next day (like today), it is 74 degrees at sunrise and only getting hotter. 

I was reminded about this holiday while on my bike ride. There were about 300 people on the beach having a groundhog day party watching the sunrise.  It was so cool. Look….

Furthermore, I was really happy that the stupid cats woke me up because the beach at sunrise is so inspiring. The sun rising itself is gorgeous and reminds you that there must be a g-d.  

When I ride this early, I am always amazed at how busy it is. I can't believe how many people leave their cozy beds to exercise.  I am in awe of the injured souls traipsing along with canes, prosthetics and crutches. I love to see the elderly getting fresh air and getting their exercise in. I'm motivated by the athletes, including a group of  people trying to get in shape for an upcoming 1/2 marathon all in their matching shirts.

I'm not as enthralled by the tourists sitting on benches smoking their first cigarettes of the day but I'm trying not to judge. I am grossed out by the guy I always end up behind who is riding a bike and smoking at the same time (doesn't that defeat the purpose?)

Besides all of that going on, there was a band set up on the sand shooting a music video, plenty of yogis and tai chi practitioners, professional photographers setting up for portraits and  lots and lots of selfies being taken.

Even though I really hate those cats right now, I am really happy to start my day this way. Hope yours is great too.