It was a beautiful day at the beach. We hadn’t been there for a while, but the snowbirds are beginning to fly away home for the summer, so there’s a little more breathing room. The Gulf waters are also beginning to warm and it strikes me funny how quickly this can happen. It’s a huge body of water. One day it feels like a therapeutic ice bath and a couple of weeks later it is cool enough to feel refreshing, but warm enough to stay in and bob around. I don’t know how it happens so fast. I’m just glad it does.
The water has that beautiful turquoise blue/green to it and though not completely clear today, it’s not bad. Clear enough for us to see a large dark shadow that is definitely moving beneath the surface near shore, which eliminates the possibility of perhaps an isolated deep water trough, but opens the possibility of a cloud shadow. Looking up reveals a cobalt blue sky. That wouldn’t be it then. Best case it’s a large school of fish. Worst case….well you know what the worst case is! We stare, barely blinking. Nose and head break the surface and guess who? It’s a manatee! What a marvelous surprise! A relieved one too, I suspect, for the couple drifting around on the pool float when Mr. Manatee made himself known.
My husband spent some time beachcombing with a metal detector. I have two bionic knees, so when he goes for a while without hearing even a blip on the squawk box he lifts the detector to my knees, just to make sure it’s still working. Glad to be of assistance. Years ago our son lived near the Treasure Coast. We spent some time on the beach, him detecting, me scooping. Don’t know how that arrangement came about. Found a lot of flip tops, which led him to question whether anybody throws anything away anymore. No Spanish gold though. On this particular day our treasures amount to .75 in quarters! The disappointing realities of the debit card age, but it’s still fun to hope and dream. You never know.
We grab hotdogs and share a Coke at a picnic table underneath a sea grape tree. Cumulus clouds are beginning to build and turn dark over the Everglades. A few billow far on the horizon over the Gulf. I think how lucky I am, for it is truly a beautiful day.