Sanibel Island

My students and I were chatting in class this week how the snowbirds clamor to get down here every winter.  Families vacation here in SWFL.  Destination weddings happen here in SWFL. Yet, we live less than an hour from a beach, and seldom do we ever visit. (Truthfully, the traffic is terrible here during high season.) Still, we take it for granted. We take the abundant sunshine for granted. We take the palm trees for granted.  We take the sand between our toes for granted.  We take wearing sandals to work each day for granted. We take the fresh squeezed orange juice for granted.  Shoot, we take it all for granted!

I told my students I intended to do something about it this weekend, and today was the day.  I had a department meeting at the main campus this morning.  As I returned to the parking lot, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, it was 81 degrees, and Siri said I was just 17 miles from Sanibel Island. SOLD!

I decided to treat myself to lunch at the beach.

What a beautiful view of the Gulf while I enjoyed a grilled
grouper sandwich, coleslaw with mango, and a sweet tea.

This ol' broad desperately needed some beach therapy.

Time for some mindfulness and meditation.

I felt sad for the book, abandoned on the beach
to dry in the sun. The world has moved away
from the beauty of turning pages in a book.
Like so many other people and things in
this world, it lay discarded. 😢



Maybe I've watched too much of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Or maybe it was because I stumbled upon a highfalutin
resort and was surrounded by Yankee accents over lunch...
At any rate, I swear these birds had NYC accents and the
surname of Rubenstein. About four others and I just stood
and watched these birds ravaging some poor soul's beach
set up, cackling up a storm. It was hilarious 😎 

The resort was beautiful; like old money beautiful.
For an hour or so, I pretended I belonged.

I drove farther down to another beach for some more shelling.




I then made my way down to the Sanibel Pier and Lighthouse.





As I looked out the pass, I counted the days until Len and I
will be sailing Kantiya through here on Spring Break.
Then I got back in my car and headed for home.


21 days
just breathe...

G'nite, y'all!

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