An almost perfect day

Have you ever had one of those really pefect days? You know, the kind that keeps surprising you with sweet moments, little ones, that even individually would be cool, but all together make the kind of day that you'd love to have go on forever?

I'm not talking about big or monumental things happening. Just things, like, where you keep noticing the weather getting sunnier and the air getting fresher. Where you find yourself, even if only momentarily, happy with the world and feeling good in your own skin. I had one of those days recently. This is how it went.

Jim and I had decided, at the spur of the moment, to go to the beach. It's just a little more than an hour away from us, but, sometimes, with all there is to do here on the farm, we have a hard time giving ourselves permission to just "take the day off" and do something that doesn't involve getting all the chores done.

Yet, on this day, we did. The day started out kind of crappy, too. The weather was cloudy and cold and I got carsick on the way down (which hasn't happened in a long time). When we got to the beach, I was completely green and decided to sit in the car for a bit while Jim took Roxy for a walk.

As I sat there, feeling pathetic, eating salty potato chips and willing myself to feel better, the clouds dissappeared and I was suddenly enveloped in warm, incredible sunshine:

I looked out window next to me and saw this guy:

Very cute. So, I threw him a couple of chips. I like seagulls. This is fortunate, too, because a friend of the cute guy decided suddenly to land on the hood of our car and look at me:

So...I gave him a chip, too:

"Please, ma'am, I want some more." Did you know that seagulls could be so polite? (and quote Dickens??):

He was asking so nicely, how could I resist?:

You want more!? But seems now some very attentive friends have noticed the handout:

Uh oh. Now, that's not polite. That's just plain pushy, if you ask me:

Snack time's over. Time to move on, you guys. Besides, I'm feeling better now:

I looked down to the beach and could see my beloveds enjoying their walk:

One of them saw me and waved:

Roxy was happy when I caught up to them on the beach:

Jim, of course, had already mapped out all the beach geocaches before we had left home. It was fun that there was one hidden close to our current favorite beach. Off he went to try to find it:

Is it considered bad form if I post a picture of him looking for the cache? I hope not:

Roxy wondered for a split second what he was doing:

and then became distracted by a smell. When she found the smell, she rolled in it. Ewwww:

Since Jim and Roxy were clearly involved, doing the things they love, I went off in search of heart-shaped rocks. I like heart-shaped rocks. Look, here's one:

Here's another:

Here's one, but it appears broken. How sad:

The Oregon coast is known for its dramatic clouds:

I always try to get at least one picture of the three of us together. I really need to get better at self-portraits:

Jim suggested we stop in at our favorite cafe for shot of espresso, a soy mocha, and an incredible cinnamon roll:

It was a perfect day:

Before we headed back, we couldn't resist one more quick run on the beach:

We left with smiles on our faces.