After discovering that Fort De Soto Park had not yet re-opened since the hurricane, I decided not to set an alarm so had a leisurely morning of breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then went down to the beach with a notebook, found a nice rock to sit on, and watched the pelicans and shore birds play in the water and along the shore while I wrote some poetry.
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| Rock Groins? |
A ruddy turnstone stands on one foot
just to my right as it feasts on a fish.
A pair of brown pelicans soar,
the light catching the yellow on their heads.
A sanderling runs past the rock where I sit,
his legs moving so rapidly, they are a blur.
The waves roll in.
The rock below me feels cold and rough
as the sun gently warms my face.
The wind rustles my hair and caresses my cheek,
nature’s blow dryer after a morning shower.
I take a deep breath
and let the salty air fill my lungs.
The waves roll in.
A flock of gulls take off in unison,
flying close by my head before landing again.
A larger herring gull squawks loudly
and chases away a smaller ring-billed gull.
Terns mingle with gulls in the sand,
not deterred by the people walking by.
The waves roll in.
After a morning on the beach, I checked out of my hotel and continued my journey south, meeting up with my parents on Sanibel Island where they had rented a place. After checking into the hotel, we grocery shopped for breakfast and lunch foods (our unit had a small kitchen), and then had dinner at The Great White Grill where my parents usually start their Sanibel vacation with pizza and wine.
Sunset this evening was breathtaking!
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| This is where I am staying |
