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.