Beach

*This draft is from a trip we took in October to Fort Walton beach. I started a list of vignettes – it was such a charming trip, so much wildlife. Thanksgiving update to follow!

• The water was clear, shallow – yards out, we were still ankle deep. It was as clear as any tropical destination – but only on this day. The next day, it was the cloudy gulf again. Amazing.
• I noticed a tiny jellyfish, and moved out of its way, and then saw that there were hundreds, they were everywhere. Swarms of small comb jellyfish, ranging in size from grapes to oranges. I leapt out of the water, dragging the children to the beach. Even as I was doing it, I could not deny the empirical evidence that we were surrounded by jellyfish and not being stung, so I looked it up. After confirming they were non-stinging, we ventured back in, then spent the rest of the morning watching every newcomer to the beach go through the same thing.
• A turquoise fish about the size of my hand was obsessed with my ankles. Like a nippy little dog, it followed me around.
• There were scrabbling hermit crabs every few feet. I plucked one out of the water and showed it to the boys – the long spiny feet emerged from the tiny shell and then retreated with a snap. I put him back, and he skittered away from me briefly before settling back down on the sand.
• We could see sand ripples, almost like art, moving with the waves.
• At one point we had a foot race with a ray skipping along the surf-line up the beach. The ray looked like it was surfing. A devil ray – the two prongs on its head. It was almost flirting with us, going in and out, body surfing with the waves, its wing tips flashing. Apparently there is a giant naturally occurring baby manta nursery in the Gulf. This one was quite small, and playful.
• A large heron stood at the shoreline on our last day, as we took a walk up the beach. He was hunting – moving slowly, turning his head side to side, watchful. He suddenly darted into the water, grabbed a fish and slowly choked it down. We could see his throat bulging, the fish inside, still flipping around, as it inched down the long slender neck.