Only day two, and already the beaches are running together. It’s just a giant coastline of one beautiful beach after another. This was the day after soccer registration – Soccer Fest. Brothers and sisters could play (along with, at least in Dax’s case, a cousin), and all the tournament players played. Teams were mixed up so kids played with others from all over the country. It was an all-day affair and again, I opted out, as did Sophie, but she wanted to sleep and have alone time so I set out alone to explore.
I went to see what I could see. And I know I went to Ocean Reef Beach this morning, so maybe I didn’t yesterday. Aargh – which is which? I know this is Ocean Reef, though. I’m already mixed up which day is which. Maybe the sun is addling my brains more than they usually are.
Anyway, obviously I’m happy.
Clouds again as there are every day. (This morning when I got up, I thought, what’s wrong? What was wrong was the sky was all blue with no clouds. But we got some later.)
This beach was covered with shells.
And rocks.
And tide pools.
And protected sea turtle nests.
Funny, isn’t it? Yesterday I saw greyhounds racing so us humans (I always think of how the Ferengis pronounce HU – mons when I write that word) can bet on them, and today I see great effort to protect the nests of sea turtles. There are hundreds of eggs in a nest. Something is strange here. Do the greyhounds not count because we can breed them? Control them?
It was of course very hot and humid. Luckily, the hotels on the beach had placed umbrellas and lounge chairs so I could rest.
Ok, they didn’t put them out for me, but no one stopped me from sitting on one. I tried to look like a hotel guest. This is the best I could do for a self-portrait of the lounge chair, umbrella, and me. Or my foot.
This is such a cool picture. It makes me really wish my Blackberry had more megapixels. Two just isn’t that many. I might be able to get a clear 4×6 with two – maybe. If I was completely still when I snapped.
The clouds! The water! It just transfixes me. And the different ways of seeing things.
I thought of these sand/rock formations as a mountain range leading to a vast sea. The sea is vast, it’s true, but these were quite small. Just seeing them differently.
Moving on, I more or less drove up the coast with nothing in mind. When I saw this sign, I zoomed in.
John McArthur State Beach. Now I was cracking up for sure. As I checked my pockets to get out of the car – I fill them with my lipstick (because my lips get so dry), small camera, cell phone, car keys, money - I couldn’t find my lipstick. Darn. Maybe I lost it at the other beach. I went into the nature center and bought a chapstick. I went to the vending machine for water, had to return to the shop for change, put my hand in my pocket and came up with my lipstick. Arrgh.
I walked over Lake Worth Lagoon on a wonderful walkway, albeit a hot one, to get to the beach on the Atlantic. If the wind hadn’t been blowing some, it would have been impossible. And on the way back, the wind wasn’t blowing, so I returned to the car in somewhat of a hot and bothered mood. I did want to take a picture of this with my cell phone, however. Hand in pocket, I found no cell phone. I figured it must be in the car, but just in case I stopped by the store again to see if I had left it on the counter. No, I did not, but it was in the car. Soooo cracking up.
I determined to find the Loggerhead Marine Rescue Center in Juno. I went back and forth and back and forth until I was unhappy and hungry but finally figured out the way in. It’s a turtle rescue center. This turtle had his back right flipper bitten off by a shark, so he was being rehabbed until his nutritional status was strong and he could again go to sea.
Have you ever asked someone a question, and at a certain point in the answer you want to say, “Ok, that’s enough. Don’t tell me any more.” But you can’t of course because it would be rude, especially when it’s a volunteer you’re talking to, and especially when it’s a senior citizen volunteer who is just being helpful, but gives way more detail than you want. Yes, that was my mood.
I’d been texting Sophie trying to get her to do something with me, but she informed me she doesn’t really like looking at animals, so the zoo was out as was the lion safari. Thinking hard, I knew what Sophie would want to do, so I texted that I needed to eat lunch. Would she like to go to Target with me and eat in the food court? You have to understand that Sophie loves Target. Some day she’ll realize what a selfless and remarkable grandmother I am, that I wanted to eat a hot dog in the Target food court.
Actually, it was a pretty cool Target. On a second story so you took an escalator up and down, plus there was one to convey the carts down too. She took photos to send to her friend Lizzie back home, who is also a Target aficionado I guess. This Target was enormous and uncrowded. A year old, it is always uncrowded. In fact, nothing around here is crowded, including the roads.
So that was the day. When we returned and the others got back from Soccer Fest, which they enjoyed despite the grueling weather, I looked out of my room window and saw Sophie and Dax in the pool.
I looked out a short while later and saw this sunset.
It was just beautiful. And none of the kids in the pool looked up once.
If you want to see more pictures of sunsets or waves or the ocean, check out the nature gallery here.
