Last night I had grown weary taking the same old path I follow on my walks.  I’ve also been wanting to do something–anything–approximating climbing a hill. On impulse, I jumped in my car and drove to All Saints, Sherod’s church in downtown Fort Lauderdale.  After I parked my car, I started walking east, towards the beach.  It’s been so overcast around here that I hadn’t realized how close to a full moon we were.

Dusk was slipping into the night and the colors were amazing

Walk far enough east on Las Olas and you start up a drawbridge–the closest you’ll come to a hill around here.

Walk a little further and there you are: on A1A, with the Atlantic stretching out forever in front of you.  The path of moonlight on the water is so seductive–a way to a tomorrow that’s right there, if you’ll just follow along a little further.

It was incredibly fun to walk across the street from all the beach places that were so alive with music and people talking and eating and enjoying themselves by the water.  Close enough to enjoy the energy of so much life but not claustrophobic because of the crowds.  I discovered that to get my 6 miles in, I had to walk from All Saints to Sunrise Blvd and back.

The best moment came close to the end of my walk.  I was on the downward slant of the Las Olas drawbridge, listening to Equinoxe by Jean Michel Jarre when what felt like a river of light flooded by me–a bike club, it must have been, with what must have been close to a hundred riders, buzzing by me.

For a few moments I felt like I was being carried along by that river of light and also of joy.  There you have it. A Friday night in Fort Lauderdale.