I Love The Smell Of Brighton In The Morning

When you live in Brighton, weeks can pass where you don't see the sea.  This is usually down to being busy, being lazy, or being complacent. So for the past couple of weeks my friend and I have been going for morning walks down on the seafront. 

It's supposed to be for exercise but instead of running *shudder* we just do a very fast walk to the Palace Pier and back which takes about an hour. Both being freelancers, we meet in the local park at half eight and set off; my clients hardly ever need me in that hour and frankly they can wait anyway. We don't manage it every day and I'll be honest that I am always the reason for this. Sometimes it's raining, I might want a lie-in, or (mostly) I just don't feel like it.

Lately though I've discovered that I much prefer taking the walk by myself. It's not that my friend isn't good company, but sometimes I don't feel like talking and I want to focus on taking in the morning and being inside my own head.

Yesterday was gorgeous. It was fresh enough to be a little bracing, but not cold enough that my ears rang. I get a great deal of sick satisfaction seeing all the cars and bikes speeding eastwards into town to work, whilst I'm part of the other gang who don't have to be anywhere in much of a hurry!

So I get to see all the people taking their dogs for a walk; dogs of all shapes and sizes proudly sporting their fashion accessories like little neckerchiefs and colourful harnesses. The joggers of all abilities - the Duracell runners that look like they could go on forever, and the short-jog-then-walk-then-jog people who's style I recognise. 

The bit I really like though is seeing the seafront slowly start to come to life. The dreymen delivering barrels of beer to the clubs, cafe waiters starting to put the chairs and tables out, and the artists opening up their studios. I used to run cafe's and bars so I recognise the routine but am so very glad that it's not part of my life any more and that now I just get to watch without having to do all that work!

And of course the sea. Living by the sea you get a massive expanse of sky. A big open space filled with weather of all kinds. Every day (every minute) is different and I love the juxtaposition of the big sky, the long strip of water, then the wide strip of pebbles below. Because it's so open and exposed, you really get to feel part of it; and the changing colours of the sea and sky means the mood of the day is always different. Whether it's windy, overcast, sunny or hazy, it's always beautiful.