A small holiday moment is captured here. The wind blowing gently but firmly in the sun descending over the Pacific from our view at Carmel-by-the-sea. The steps ahead, they’ve usually been tread before, and these certainly have. The evidence is plain, if only for a moment. Soon it will be washed clean from the sand. But the footprints in the mind, those take longer to fade, if ever.

This beach brought back memories of decades past, moments fresh and new. I’d come from the east coast to the west, a new job, a new life. All was adventure, so much of the story had yet to unfold. And in the crashing sounds of the surf and the grains of sand underfoot, the moment is washed clean yet again.