Happy Father's Day

I started this blog on Father's Day last year.  On that day, I painted a very different picture from the park life that I have now.  At Troy last year, I was all alone in a very quiet park.  The spring was flooded and everything was quiet.  This year, I wasn't working, but the park was far from quiet.  Here at Wekiwa, there are no days when the spring is flooded and closed.  It would take a hurricane to close down this park.  Even though I was off, I had two park visitor calls before 10:00am.  I could hear how busy the park was, even from the house.  I was anxious to get away.  What a difference a year makes!
We went to the beach this afternoon.  It was too hot out to do anything that didn't involve water and I was not interested in being at work.  We expected the beach to be busy, so we went a little later in the afternoon.  It was a beautiful day at the beach!  It was much busier than when we last went, on a Thursday.  When we got there though, some people were beginning to leave.  We didn't have any trouble finding parking or a cozy spot of sandy beach.  I even discovered some evidence of wildlife right away.  There was a smashed crab on the beach.  I'm not sure how it met its demise, but it was interesting to see.  A fly was inspecting it at the same time I was.  I thought of my Dad because he loves to eat crab legs.  This crab didn't look tasty to me, but I think that fly thought it looked good.



We saw quite a few kites flying in the sky and it was fun to play the game "bird or kite."  There was one kite that was very bird-like.  It had me fooled for quite a while.  One kite was just enormous.  It was attached to a surfer.  The kite pulled him all over the place.  Even though there weren't any big waves, the person looked like he had a good time.  It must have been exhausting to hang on to that giant kite all day.  Quite a few times, he came to shore and had to walk back up the beach again to his starting point, towing the kite through the air the whole time.  He was there when we got there and he was there when we left.


The beach was full of people, but as I mentioned they were starting to leave as we arrived.  The first photo was taken right after we arrived and the second, shortly before we left.  It was late in the afternoon and there were some dark clouds looming overhead.  We heard thunder in the distance, but only found rain when we were traveling home.  Please excuse the dark blob in the lower center of each photo.  A piece of dust has settled inside of my lens and I have no way of removing it aside from sending it in to the manufacturer for repair.  As soon as the blog is done, that will be the first thing I do.



The smashed crab and the multitude of people were not the only wildlife that we saw at the beach.  I saw a lot of the same pretty shells that we saw last time.  I also found this little oddity.  I picked it up thinking that it was a shark tooth, but on closer inspection, I found that it was not.  It appeared to be a very young something or another.  The ocean is a mysterious place to me.


The beach was dotted with this beautiful seaweed.  The edges remind me of pine needles.  I can only imagine how many miles this little pile of seaweed has traveled just to end up on our beach.


Again, we didn't see any Seagulls.  I really don't miss them.  Another scavenger was in their place though.  I saw quite a few Pigeons.  There were a lot more of them today than there were last time.  Maybe it was because there were a lot more people who might drop their snacks on the ground.  We also saw several Pelicans, but none came close enough to photograph.


All in all, it was a great day at the beach.  We got just enough sun, the waves were small and manageable, the way that I like them.


Thought of the Day #4
I have enjoyed blogging because it forces me to find things that are out of the ordinary.  I am always looking for interesting things to photograph for the blog.  I don't think that I would have taken such a close look at the seaweed or found the mysterious "thing" if I had not been searching for something other than a beach landscape to photograph.  When I was at Troy, I made a brochure for a program that I gave.  It was entitled, "Ten Ways To Have Fun On A Hike."  One of the ways that I listed was to bring someone else with you when you walk.  Quite often, you will see things that you might have missed or the other person will spot something that you overlooked.  Blogging has been like taking other people with me wherever I go.  I really search for something neat to entertain you all.  Thanks for the company, its been fun.