Venice Beach, California
The Venice Pier had that blank, tilted feeling empty tourist spots have. The dawn sun cut low across the water as it winked in and out of the sea haze. Fishermen dotted the pier, and surfers rocked and bobbed on their boards, chatting with each other. When I asked a fisherman if he was catching anything, “Not a thing,” was all he said.
The borrowed bike rolled along with little effort. It was still cool, and the beach air felt good rippling through my t-shirt, but in a few hours, when the beach packs with tourists, heat will take over.
Angry hip hop poured from a gazebo adding the necessary contrast to keep the morning from divorcing itself from the world. But there was a calmness about it, an easy-going anticipation of the day to come with everyone moving forward with a gentle resolve.