Skip to main content

Beach Day


Day at the Beach

After a grueling stretch of several months without a break, I gave the staff of Existing In BFE a week off, and this is what they did on the first day.  It was a beautiful Sunday morning and the right time to take in the first white sand trip to Sunset Beach.   



The sight of a blue and green horizon still fills me with awe.  The sounds of he beach are also thrilling as well, the turns, the waves hitting, and the lilting sounds of children having fun.  We all have troubles, but they recede a bit in this environment.   


Drew, Kenzie and Norah arriving. 






Little Norah doing the "Little Norah" thing.  She has acquired a love of the beach, the sand and particularly the water.  She is a little too fearless, but better too fearless than too timid.  








This bucket of goodies was donated to Norah by a couple here at Shawshank.  She certainly liked it and I think Mom enjoyed it, too.


Since it was one of the first really nice beach days of the summer, other folks came out and joined our family bash.



I have decided to pick up one of these surfboards and find me the perfect wave.  It can't be too tough to do can it.  I'll let you know how it goes on a later post.   



I swear Norah has some gills somewhere.  She loves the water and shows little fear.  Daddy plopped her on this float and she rode the waves well.  







And the ever present gulls.  Always scavenging for food left behind (and sometimes not left behind) these guys survey the sand and when they find a kernel of goodness will swoop down and take it.  

There was one mishap, of course, since I believe in the balance of nature, or karma.  Too much good is leavened by some bad to keep everything at an even keel.  This is the pessimist in me.  No all good goes good for very long.  Our tent that has become a must for the beach was toppled by the wind and while we got it all unfolded and back in its container, the flimsy metal that was bent surely won't work anymore.  I haven't gotten it out and tried it yet, but I am sure we are gonna have to eat this one and get another.  But, you really can't complain too terribly much: a beautiful day, a dip in the ocean, the family at hand, a cigar and some good food.  Tough to beat that, karma notwithstanding.  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless.  Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001.  It was one of those things that can generate crime:  two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job.   Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things.  Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold.   But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find.   His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead.  He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds.  He will be paralyzed for life.   None of this is pleasant.  Reading the f...

Philippe Park and The Tocobaga Indian Mound

About ten miles or so north of Bedlam is a place called Safety Harbor.  Its the place that has the 300-500 year old oak that the city tried to kill I featured a couple weeks ago on BFE .  They have a pretty nice park that has some interesting history, too.  Count  Philippe landed here and introduced the pineapple and cigar making to the Tampa Bay area. Today, however, I want to mention something else about this area, besides the really nice scenery.  Phillipe Park was also the home of the Tocobaga Indians.  The Tocobaga occupied the Tampa Bay area from around 600 A.D. to the 1600's.   This is a fairly common view of old stately moss-laden oaks down here.   This shot was taken atop the only Tocobaga Indian mound in the area.  This exact spot is home not only to the Tocobaga until they died out, but then to Count Phillipi who settled the area after the Tocobaga died out.   The place is full of oak and ...

The Mary Davis Home - Part 2

None of these pictures were taken by me,  they came right from the MDH website.  I am posting these so that friends who have never seen inside where I worked can gain access.  After 27 years I have many stories, tales and acquaintances.  But, I wouldn't know how to express them appropriately in a few paragraphs.  I enjoyed 98% of my stay there and hope I made a difference in the lives of a fraction of the kids who entered.  The original MDH at this site was just the front part.  The large red-roofed area in back was added on in the 90's. This is the Jerry Carlton library.  It was unofficially named after one of the counselors who truly loved the place.   He passed away around 2002, I think.  Mr. Farber looks like he is explaining a few things to a client. The classroom. Activity area with the gym behind the windows. Another shot of the classroom. It was a little different area to teach since we had 2 classes and 2 teachers i...