My sister is coming! My sister is coming! I can't believe my sister is actually coming! She is gracing Florida with her very presence! After visiting once with an ex-boyfriend years ago, she swore she would never enter the state again, but I guess she must really love me. She and her new husband arrive Thursday and I can hardly stand the days that are going to drag in between.
In this small town, I guess we are going to be spending a lot of time at the beach. Actually, we have boat plans with Eddie and Lotte Friday afternoon before they leave for the Keys, and we have a turtle hunt on the books Saturday night. The turtles are laying eggs and the babies begin hatching between now and October and it is just magical. For all of the culture I have had a difficult time acclimatizing to here in Florida, there are some things that I just absolutely love.
My friend, Tammy, and I have sworn to go turtle hunting once a week until the season is over. I say "hunting", forgetting the very meaning of the word here means something very different from how I mean it (though, here, I believe that word is "huntin'"). It's like being in high school again and it feels like we are doing something really shady, even though it is completely legal (as long as one doesn't "molest" the nests). We leave after 9 or 10 pm and walk the beach for hours, combing for any signs of a mama turtle (flipper tracks in the sand, a large hole). Once a nest has been established, the turtle people stake them off with tape and signs and posts so careless beach goes don't mindlessly trample the eggs. Apparently, these people come around on their quads daily to attend to this matter.
Anyway, Saturday night was amazingly magical with all of the babies we saw and the eggs waiting to be hatched. Sadly, we saw a few dead ones and compromised nests in light of the storm that just missed us; Irene caused some serious waves and dune damage/ beach erosion, leaving lots of baby turtles confused and in distress. Sad. But we did manage to see a few and the sky was a beautiful hue, overwrought with stars and constellations. It was so peaceful on the beach- therapeutic, even. I could have stayed for hours more.....if the bugs had not eaten us alive. Even still, with Tammy, it is never an early night. I love the beach. It is my solitude.
I feel so grateful for the routine and network I have in place now. The kids are growing and thriving. Marc has a stable income and job he loves. I am starting to spread my wings and branch out into different interests and projects. This is never the life I would have chosen in my small-minded, hard-headed world. If I had a crystal ball and you told me I was going to have to move with Marc's job years into our marriage, I think I would have thought long and hard before marrying him, because leaving California was just never in my narrow scope. I guess that's why we can't predict the future and it's better we don't always know what tomorrow might bring. Change is hard. It flat out sucks. Transition for some of us can take a lifetime, but I am just now learning how to fly.
