Meeting Adjourned

Jon captured our friend peering in our RV window.

There are days when a visit from nature can shift my perspective on the day.  Sometimes, I just have a bad 11:10, instead of saying I had a bad day.  My thinking can really send me into a spiral at times.  Especially when my brain keeps reiterating all of the things I haven't done, and need to do, and then it has the nerve to ask me why I haven't done it yet!  

I tell people I have a whole committee that meets every once in awhile in my brain.  There is the nagging old woman who keeps picking me apart, asking me why I never get things accomplished.  An old man sits on this committee scolding me, telling me that I am never going to meet my goals.  I think there are about five characters that sit at this rectangular table.  If you have watched the Muppets, just think of the two old Hecklers.  Yes, they are there too.

Then, in the midst of my day I am sent a visit from nature.  A Cardinal, a butterfly, a whisper of wind, a cloud forming familiar shapes in the sky.  I am softly reminded of who I am, and that who I am is enough.  I am right where I am suppose to be, I remind myself.  The committee gets bored in my distraction, and soon they begin to grab their donuts, coffee and jackets, and slowly saunter off to another boardroom where someone else has given them space to meet.

I know they will be back, I have accepted the fact.  I am aware of their existence now and this gives me the power to adjourn their meetings.   So hangs the sign on my door MEETING ADJOURNED.
 

St. George State Park

Solitude.  Rain.  Rain. Ocean.  St. George State Park is 9 miles out on a barrier island full of pines, white sand dunes and Cardinals.  We have spent over a week here filling up with nature.

The ocean is a walk away through the dunes.

Yesterday, I brought out my beach towel and had some reflection time while the ocean waves crashed on the white shoreline, birds darted along the beach claiming their breakfast.  The most amazing part was that I was the only one as far as I could see in both directions.  We are here before the summer rush of Southern Floridians come to vacation where it is cooler.  Besides getting chewed by the No-See-Ums (I did see those nasty bugs) in the woods and the rain this week, we find this place to be beautiful.

Snakes, shells, pickled fish!

A whale bone found on the island.

We visited the Apalachicola (try saying that three times!) National Estuarine Research Reserve where we could explore life around the island and watch a small video about preserving this coast.  In the morning, oyster boats filled the shallow ocean waters as they sell off the oysters to be marketed around the United States.  The raking tool is shown in this picture of an oyster boat, as well as the heaping pile of oysters.  The keeper size is three inches, which they measure from their metal stick with two prongs coming off the sides in the shape of a squared off letter C.  They place this tool beside the oyster shell to meet regulations.

On Valentine's Day, Jon and I slurped down our first raw oyster off the shell.  They keep them on ice right below the beer on tap!  I was really skeptical at first, yet really enjoyed the salty, cold taste!  We ate fresh shrimp caught off the coast, sampled clam, flounder, and scallops.  The seafood in coastal towns is so fresh and flavorful.  It was a treat for me as my favorite food is shrimp, and now....maybe those slimy, little, gooey, ghostly, flubbery, oysters too?  Keep an open mind as you say "ewwww"!