Contentment in the Woods

While lying in the sand and staring at the waves yesterday from the shore of North Carolina's Atlantic Beach, I was swept with nostalgia for my old oceanfront digs in California's Newport and Laguna; even our high-rise apartment in Japan had an ocean view.

Then I moved here, to the middle of a woods, three hours from the coast. After the beach bliss of yesterday, contentment settled on me when I looked out at my trees and flowers this morning. I no longer have dolphins in my view, but deer; no more seagulls, but cardinals and woodpeckers; instead of feral cats, I have squirrels. Life is good here in the North of Carolina.