Monday, August 24, 2009

Here's my little crab buddy walking on the beach

This is the live crab I saw this morning walking on the beach.

Calm After the Storm


I'd heard that the surfers had a field day this weekend with waves kicked up by Hurricane Bill 800 miles to the east, but I didn't get to the beach then. Weekends at the beach are too crowded and noisy. People who don't live here and visit for the day have little sense of ownership, so they have no qualms about throwing their trash all over our beach. That type of disrespect annoys me, so I tend to avoid the scene.

My mother always said she could start to feel the weather changing to fall in August, and it always made her sad to see the summer go. Summer was her favorite season of the year. This year, she won't have to watch its departure. I'd never noticed the change until this year. August always felt more like the "dog days" of seemingly endless heat and loathsome humidity. She said that even as a baby, I would just cry and cry on hot summer days. But this morning, there was a lovely occasional breeze wafting in from the east. The weatherman on the morning news said we'll stay below 90 degrees today, for the first time since June. What used to bring sadness to my mother just feels to me like welcome relief from summer's unrelenting heat.

The ocean today was calm this morning, almost glassy except for a few small waves breaking close to shore. Clouds with welcome shade soon parted and the sun began to beat down as I walked. Several shrimp boats from Mayport were casting their nets just offshore. Large flocks of birds were gathering on the beach, all types together, foraging for breakfast. Several proudly carried little silver fish in their beaks, always with others close behind awaiting their opportunity to snatch them away. A crab washed in by a wave looked a bit lost at first, then started making his way back toward the surf before another wave gave him a lift back to the sea. There were no shells worth picking up. Most were in pieces, as is often the case here in Neptune Beach.

Yes, change is in the air. This year, I can definitely feel it.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Storm Brewing


Haven't gotten off to a very good start, have I? Business obligations have kept me from my beach walks since my first post. Afternoons are tough this time of year due to storms that move in from the heat of the day, and I'm just not that much of a morning person, so any obligations at or before noon will preclude a daily walk.

Although Hurricane Bill is about 800 miles to the east of us, we had some pretty nasty-looking unrelated storms move through from the west this afternoon. The bands of clouds were actually quite lovely. They reminded me of the beach when the tide is going out and leaves bands of wave remnants on the sand. But you can probably understand why I wouldn't want to be walking on the beach in this kind of weather.

Monday, August 17, 2009

August 17, 2009


(The photo above is me on a winter beach walk in 1980, right here in Neptune Beach.)

This morning as I crossed the boardwalk over the dunes, I was greeted by a flock of hungry seagulls being fed by a family that was allowing their toddlers to run naked on the beach. In today's society, I'm not sure that's the greatest idea, but to each their own. The ocean was gray and fairly calm. Many wispy clouds in the sky, mostly cirrus, a few cumulous and some jet trails from early flights along the coast. Few shells on the beach, but a couple of de-tentacled jellyfish that looked for all the world like the bottoms of glass coke bottles. As I walked, I noticed the beginnings of several tidal pools and sloughs that may turn into dangerous runouts once Hurricane Bill passes us (hopefully offshore) this weekend. On my way back across the dunes after my walk, I noticed a small cherry tomato bush growing amongst the weeds on the dunes, with two ripe red tomates on it, an odd anomaly. I must remember to take my camera on future walks.

So, where is Neptune Beach, you may be asking? We're in the northeast corner of Florida, just south of the St. Johns River's mouth, on what nautical charts have traditionally called San Pablo Island. The island doesn't seem much like one, as it stretches all the way from the south side of the St. Johns River down to Vilano Beach, which is just north of St. Augustine, and is several miles wide in places. Jacksonville is to the west of us, Atlantic Beach to the north and Jacksonville Beach to the south. We're an unusual oceanfront community for Florida, in that only a couple blocks of our oceanfront is commercial; the rest is all single-family houses, with no high-rise condos.

Why am I blogging about Neptune Beach? Good question. I'm hoping that posting something each morning will keep me motivated to continue my daily walks. It's a habit too easy to let lapse. Early meetings, feeding the cat her breakfast, pending work projects, reading the daily newspaper over breakfast, and social networking online have their ways of pushing my beach walks aside. At this time of year, if one waits too late, the day is already too hot to get out there. But with my mother's death last month, my role as caregiver went away. Working from home as a writer and editor gives me more flexibility in my schedule than most, so my excuses for missing a daily beach walk have become fewer. Perhaps by blogging about the beach, I will find an audience that keeps me going on these daily walks that renew my spirit and keep me healthier. The walk may be in the morning or early evening, depending on the time of year and weather.

It seems odd to need an excuse to get out and enjoy God's marvelous creation, doesn't it?