A Perfect Day (Alissa Grosso)

There aren't many perfect days in life, so it's pretty awesome when one of them gets captured in a photo. One of my favorite days, was a day I spent at the beach with my dog. It was a bit of an impromptu trip. I was down in Delaware for work in January and happened to have my dog along for the trip, and we wound up with one of those freakishly warm January days, and I said to Jack, "Let's go to the beach!"

This was his first (and so far, only) time seeing (and touching and tasting because he's a dog) the ocean. He was a bit confused by that constantly moving water, but he liked the big sandy area he could run around on. We had a picnic lunch, courtesy of Wawa and walked along the paths at Cape Henlopen State Park enjoying the sunshine along with a lot of other happy folks.

There was more to this day, of course, like the part about where I had to do actual work and go and sell some books, but that wasn't the important part of the day. Work is almost never the important part of the day. I think too many people forget that or don't realize that.

I remember once my grandmother told me to not waste time planning things, because plans seldom work out and you'll only end up being disappointed. At the time, I thought she was being too much of a pessimist, but now that I'm a bit older I think I understand what she meant. Plans make life stressful and not so much fun. It's always the unplanned things that end up being the most enjoyable.

I like this picture because it's a good reminder to live every day however you please, to be up for spontaneous trips to the beach, to take care of yourself and your soul, first and foremost. Perfect days happen, but only if you're open to adventure and can remember to put the not-so-important stuff on the back burner.


When Alissa Grosso isn't taking spontaneous trips to the beach with her dog, she writes books. She's the author of the YA novels Shallow Pond, Ferocity Summer and Popular. You can find out more about her and her books at alissagrosso.com.