This morning I walked from our place all the way down the beach to the pier at the Manatee County public beach. That is quite a long walk for an old guy like me. This photo is my footprints looking back towards our place. At any rate, it was great watching people begin their day by setting up their umbrellas and all the paraphernalia you need to spend a few hours at the beach. I also saw the early morning fishermen and a few joggers and shell collectors.
One thing I have noticed is several instances of what I call beach reverie. Reverie is such a great word, isn’t it? It means to be “lost in thought” or “absent-minded daydreaming.” This happens all the time at the beach. You see people sitting or standing looking out to sea with a smile on their face and who knows what on their mind. There is something magical about doing that. Your mind kind of melds with God and nature and you are swept away to another place and time. There is something eternal about it; something infinite. Birds do it too – I especially wonder what is on a bird’s mind as it stands facing into the wind looking toward the horizon.
Speaking of birds, there are tons of seashore and wading birds on AMI. This morning I saw several species of them on my extended walk. I saw a couple of blue herons, tons of laughing gulls, a few egrets, three or four white ibis, a few common terns dive-bombing the shallows for fish, and of course, a brown pelican or two. You also see other species here including herring gulls and black skimmers. The photo above is a great blue heron that was standing by the pier. The bird did not seem scared of me whatsoever and I am grateful. It was awesome to stand so close to such a magnificent creature and look into its eyes.
Today I am going to go over and see if I can get Don’s boat started and tootle around the canals a bit. I am definitely not comfortable with this. For one, the boat is totally unfamiliar to me and for another, the water is so shallow in many places it is easy to run aground. In case you see no more posts for the next few days it means I did not make it back – please send the Coast Guard! More later (hopefully!) …. Steve
One thing I have noticed is several instances of what I call beach reverie. Reverie is such a great word, isn’t it? It means to be “lost in thought” or “absent-minded daydreaming.” This happens all the time at the beach. You see people sitting or standing looking out to sea with a smile on their face and who knows what on their mind. There is something magical about doing that. Your mind kind of melds with God and nature and you are swept away to another place and time. There is something eternal about it; something infinite. Birds do it too – I especially wonder what is on a bird’s mind as it stands facing into the wind looking toward the horizon.
Speaking of birds, there are tons of seashore and wading birds on AMI. This morning I saw several species of them on my extended walk. I saw a couple of blue herons, tons of laughing gulls, a few egrets, three or four white ibis, a few common terns dive-bombing the shallows for fish, and of course, a brown pelican or two. You also see other species here including herring gulls and black skimmers. The photo above is a great blue heron that was standing by the pier. The bird did not seem scared of me whatsoever and I am grateful. It was awesome to stand so close to such a magnificent creature and look into its eyes.
Today I am going to go over and see if I can get Don’s boat started and tootle around the canals a bit. I am definitely not comfortable with this. For one, the boat is totally unfamiliar to me and for another, the water is so shallow in many places it is easy to run aground. In case you see no more posts for the next few days it means I did not make it back – please send the Coast Guard! More later (hopefully!) …. Steve
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