This morning, we had another wonderful sunrise walk – on the beach by 6:15 and pacing along in fine style for about 50 minutes. The sand was remarkably smooth and well-packed with very few valleys or ridges, which made the walking a fairly smooth process, like walking on a soft but still firm carpet. The light in the morning sky was spectacularly beautiful, with graceful colors easily blending together in long, glowing lines and sheets.
During the walk, Delycia found several special shells, including some unusually dark sand dollars.
She showed them to an elderly Asian man, and she now realizes that, in his meager English, he told her that they were alive and she should throw them back in the water. She couldn’t understand him then, but later, back at the condo, she realized what he had been saying, and that yes, the sand dollars were probably still alive, so she quickly took them back to the beach and let them go back to their home. Yup, that’s the loving woman I love!❤️
Later this afternoon, we took a long bike ride up to the Ding Darling Nature Preserve, where we hopped on a tram and took an excellent 90 minute guided tour, led by a woman who was chock full of helpful facts and good humor. We passed along the mangrove forests full of wildly reaching roots, and occasionally saw some of the elegant birds that make the refuge their home,
and once, a serene-looking rosy snake resting on a section of root.
(seen through the screen on the bridge we were on)
listening carefully to our guide
After the tour, we did the long ride back up to the Lighthouse Cafe where we lunched on some of their famous specialties – a seafood salad for me and eggs benedict on a croissant for Cia. Then, we slowly (and wearily) rode back to the condo, where we showered and settled in for some well-deserved rest and reading.
Here’s the view from our living room this evening at 5:54 pm, with the lamp reflected in the window …
EVERYDAY MIRACLES: An Occasional Journal of a Life Lived in Wonder 