My favorite place in the world is found in South Central Florida. The Gulf of America’s waters are usually calm as they lap onto the shoreline at a steady pace. Usually, the water is clear, but sometimes it’s muddy if a storm out in the Gulf stirs things up. The sun and temperatures are perfect in the late fall and early spring, but undesirable in the summer with the thick humidity.
The beach holds so many surprises. No matter how hot it is, the white powdery sand is as cool and soft on the feet as powdered sugar. Those northern people who are on the beach will be basking in the sun at sixty degrees, while those from the south are wearing their winter coats. The landscape changes with every hurricane landfall. A ubiquitous type of shells is brought up by the tides daily. If you are there after a hurricane, you might find very rare shells on the beach, brought up by the storm’s turbulence. Dolphin sightings are common in the morning and evening as their fins tell on them as they swim together. Pelicans fly and do deep dives into the calm waters in search of their next meal. Seagulls beg the beachgoers for their snacks. They let the other seagulls know by crowing at the top of their lungs that they’ve struck gold! One seagull always knows when I’m there and comes up expecting a piece of a cracker. How do I know it’s the same seagull that I call “Fred”? He only has two toes on his left foot! He must roost there somewhere because he always lets me know of his presence. The last time I was at Siesta Key, crows had ascended onto the beach. Maybe they were flying south and migrating for the winter. It was an odd occurrence. These crows were aggressive. Anyone who dared to leave their beach bag of snacks was sure to be robbed. I saw crows pick open someone’s bag and fly off with a bag of Teddy Grahams hanging out from their beak! The crows picked a sun umbrella every day, and used it as a station to fly out and rob the beachgoers and then escape back to their hideout. The rarest sighting was a stingray by itself, swimming only a mere half foot from the edge of the shore. That caused a lot of excitement up and down the beach. Sharks? I have only seen a three-foot shark that someone fishing in the surf caught with their fishing pole. Thank goodness I haven’t seen any others.
The best part of the beach is the beautiful sunset. The orange, yellow, and red hues illuminate the water as it sparkles in the coming sunset. The almost immediate darkness that follows is a letdown…until the sun rises again tomorrow and the pattern repeats itself. The beauty of it all is astounding, and a sight that I will always cherish.
Later…
Retired Principal Tales 
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