Mashes Sands

Before we go any farther, that's what last night's supper looked like. 
It was fine. 

Our sleep last night was odd. At one point the fan at my bedside suddenly shut off which woke both Glen and me. Also, my phone chirped. I peeped outside the window and everything looked dark as hell. No lights from anywhere. I determined that our electricity had gone off, which happens around here frequently although I didn't detect any storm-like activity. This, too, is not unusual. And then, because the fan did not come back on, I figured the generator hadn't kicked on and I spent at least half an hour in bed, fretting about that because our generator is life. 
Not really, but sort of. I feared that the house would become hot without the air conditioning and wondered if Glen would be able to fix what was wrong in the morning or not and so I fretted some more until I finally went back to sleep. 
Turns out that the electricity had gone out but the generator must have come on and I just didn't know it due to the fan but that fan has one of those new modern magic on/off buttons and I guess once it cuts off, it's off until it's touched again. 
Or something. 
Turns out Glen did the same thing, the worrying, the fretting. 
Eh, we lived. 

It also turns out that it had rained. A lot. And I missed it! According to the garden cart rain gauge, we got at least an inch. I think. Maybe more. Anyway, by the time we got up, the electricity was back on, the house was still very cool, and the world looked greener and felt fresher than it had the day before. 

Jessie texted us early to say that they were thinking about going to a beach or some springs. Did we want to go? Glen, as soon as he got the text, called her back at which point she said, "Daddy, just because I text you at this hour of the morning, it doesn't mean I'm up. You don't have to call me." 
That child has always been and always will be the boss of us both. 

In the text I sent back to her after I'd had a few cups of coffee I asked if she didn't think the beaches and springs would be full of people due to it being Labor Day. She said that yes, probably, but she was wanting to go to the beach. 
So what ended up happening is that they decided to go to a rather nearby beach which is not really a beach like usual beaches because it's a peninsula surrounded by marshes and all kinds of natural Florida and there isn't much white sand and the water isn't greeny blue and there are no waves on a normal day but...it's water. It's sand. It's got fish and crabs and seagulls and osprey and pelicans. 
We decided we'd meet them and it turned out to be a good day although I really have to say that Mashes Sands is never going to be my favorite beach destination. However, we were relatively separated from other beach goers with plenty of room all to ourselves and August and Levon had a fabulous time digging in the silty sand and herding fiddler crabs and floating in the funky-colored water and doing a little fishing with their grandfather who brought fishing poles and the assorted accoutrements for said fishing as well as some live bait shrimp that we'd stopped at a huge convenience store place on the way that sells not only regular convenience store stuff but also everything from all the fishing equipment you can imagine to racks and racks of beach and sportswear clothing and all sorts of things you might need at the beach from sunscreen to, oh hell, I don't even know, a deli, nice restrooms, and of course, fresh bait. 
Here's the wall of art right beside the restroom entrance.

Well, that's just part of the wall of art. There was a lot more. 
A little something for everyone, right? I was worried I'd leave there with a tropical print moo-moo but managed not to. 

Because I'm tired and even possibly sunburned (and I cannot remember the last time that happened), I'm going to try and make this a lot shorter than I usually would. 
There are pictures. 

The biggest catch of the day was a huge stingray that August caught. 

There's some video that really shows the size of this sea creature but I am not in the mood to go through all the hoops required to edit and post it. Perhaps I will tomorrow. It was a truly impressive stingray. And of course, he is back with his family in the water now. Glen didn't even have to use a pair of pliers to get the hook out of its mouth. It just sort of fell out when the pressure of the line was removed when it was beached. Jessie helped bring it in and when we congratulated August on his catch, he said, "We all did it." 
He is the sweetest boy. 
A little while later I was standing beside him and I could not help but reach out and hug him sideways and he leaned his head over onto me and said softly, "Oh, grandma's are the best." 
Well. That was everything, right there. 
Levon was wild, doing wind sprints on the little islands left by the lowering tide, running and running, excited and pretty happy from what I could tell. There were tidal pools behind us or little estuaries? I don't know. 

But as the tide went out, those pools drained into the bay with a current so strong that it was almost like being caught in a bathtub drain. 

We risked the funky-looking water because it was so hot and floated about, making sure to keep an arm or a leg or a butt on the bottom to prevent floating out to sea. It was crazy! I've been in hot tubs with less water pressure force. 
We saw osprey carrying fish and seagulls fighting over what looked like a chicken wing that some other beach goers had thrown to them. They were fierce! 
And although it was way too hot and although the water was funky, we had a good time. 

The dead and downed tree sculptures told the story of a time when there had perhaps been more land, less water. 

Still, beautiful in a wind-worn sort of way. 
And the sky? Well. You can see it. 

On the path back to the parking lot there were wild flowers with butterflies flitting about and plants that I should have taken the time to identify. 
But I am old and I was tired and it was so hot. 
Now we're home and I'm going to heat up the soup from the other night and because I am probably insane, I have made more naan dough. 

It's been a good day. We got out of Lloyd. We moved about. We got in the water and we got to spend time with our sweeties. 

We will sleep well tonight. 

Love...Ms. Moon