Red Tide Recedes; Dolphins Arrive

How's this for a cool animal sighting? That's me in the kayak, on the ocean, and that fin next to/behind me is a dolphin. I had my best dolphin/kayaking experience today. There were at least 14 of them, and I saw them leap out of the water three times. They seemed to play with me, swimming a bit down the beach as I paddled against the sea and then when I finally felt that I could go on no more, they would circle back, come near my kayak, float on the surface, and look up at me as they basked in the ocean water. These are truly magnificent creatures. Later in the day the brother and sister-in-law also got a good run on the kayaks as the dolphins returned for an evening swim. I'm hoping they will be out there again tomorrow.

Other exciting news of the day is that the red tide seems to have receded; a big bulldozer and several men with shovels made quick business of ridding the beach of the dead fish, and there don't seem to be any floating nearby. My fingers are crossed that it won't return any time soon. I found several crabs today and two live olive shells. I was also stung by a jelly fish, twice. All of this, added to the first dolphin sighting of the season, makes me feel the ocean is rebirthing itself after a period of death. It is very reassuring.

Since this has been the first full swimming day since Hurricane Dennis swept through, I was amazed to discover the shape of the beach and the sandbars have changed drastically. There is a pooling of water in front of the house, and then a very shallow sandbar a little farther out. In some places, it pops out of the water like a private island and in other areas it can't be found. I met a woman on the beach today and she told me that they had done $550,000 worth of beach renourishment on the south end of the island and 2/3 of it was washed away by Hurricane Dennis. Ouch! It kind of makes you think what those who have money spend it on.

It's amazing how quickly this three bedroom house can become filled with people. The dog/baby/pool debate has become mute, as the p's bought this inflatable pool, and the claws would obviously render it useless. No real face time with Baby Rachel yet, but that's to be expected as six of us vie for her attention.