Standing on the Shore

Finnegan Ready for Our Beach Walk
Jupiter Island, Florida
March 4, 2022

 I enjoy walking beside the ocean on a beautiful sunny and warm day. There is something calming about the waves hitting the beach and reconnecting with and being reminded of the raw power of nature is exhilarating. 

I have not actually done the morning dog walk on the beach in over two weeks. I can make a lot of excuses and prepare many seemingly impressive reasons, but it mostly revolves around the extra effort to get to the beach--that being hop in the car and drive for less than 5 minutes. It was a bit longer today because I got stopped by the drawbridge.

Today, I decided that we would head to the beach for our morning walk. I use the walk as a warm-up for my daily bike ride. Chris is in Maryland, freezing, and so it was just Finnegan and me. I can tell the seasons are changing. Portuguese man o' wars are washing-up on the beach. Small ones. They are out there and they find their way to the Atlantic beaches at this time of year. There were also, sadly, two dead birds. I did not get close enough to identify them, but I always wonder what could have taken down these fairly large sized  birds?

The walk was a slog today as the tide was in and the sand was soft. We only did a mile--but it was a hard mile. The ocean breeze was light and surprisingly warm. I had expected it to be cooler, but the sun more than compensated for any coolness in the breeze. 

I need to stay connected to the beach and the ocean, after all, that is why I am living here. But, I have been busy with paperwork on my computer: taxes, insurance, registering vehicles, and the like. Hopefully most of this is in the past and I can begin to enjoy more Springtime afternoons on the beach. Spring begins in just 16 short days! Just saying.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, Florida