Savage Tans Cometh (Loggerhead Cay On Sanibel Island)

Sunrise, 7:30 AM

The Busy Beach at Dawn

Shelling at 7:40

Dawn

It's 6:45, a vast ribbon of clouds hang over the ocean, pink above, then clear skies, the beginning of, we hope, another great day on Sanibel.  Because of the clouds, the sunrise may not be as spectacular as usual, on a cloudless morning.  But I decided to walk out to the beach around 7:15 and took some amazing pictures of the sunrise.

Our days here at becoming predictable, comfortably so, as I am up early, everyone follows at their own pace, then about 9:00 Evie and I take a long walk, this time west on the beach, in the already warm morning sun, admiring the sand sculptures as we went, to Gulfside Park and back, about an hour and a half.  The park is a refuge, mostly for birds set right on the water, forested and cool, with a parking lot for visitors, rest rooms, so that those who don't live on the beach have a place to go.  We made the mistake, again, of walking into the wind, much cooler than our return.  We are getting quite tan, what else at the beach, despite slathering ourselves with suntan lotion a couple times a day.  I usually forget to put some on, like my father so I am told, and discover, for example, my toes are beet red.  Evie, like her Dad, seems unaffected by the sun, never burns and is already a dark brown, the envy of check out gals at Wegman's when we return.

Sand Sculpture of An Alligator

Sea Horse of Shells

Reclining Nude

We stayed on the beach with Linda and Rich, reading and walking some again, till we decided to head up for lunch.  Evie put her chair down at the ocean's edge, dangled her feet in the water, and zoned out while the rest of us talked.  Rich and I went up to the pool, swam a bit in the warm pool water, rinsing off the salt, then went up and started the bacon for BLT's for lunch.  Not much is better after a beach morning than bacon tomatoes, bread and lots of mayo!  We lingered over lunch, sitting outside in the shade of the porch, then Linda and I watched more basketball, and Rich and Evie went back to the beach.

The Guys, With Shirts, A Beer, and Corn Balls

We were all down beach side by 3:30, stayed late this time, till about 6:00, as it was partly cloudy, a bit cooler, making it more comfortable to be in the late afternoon sun.  We talked quite a bit with the Murphy's, Evie took another hour and a half walk, while the rest of us dozed and read, cracked open a couple of beers. We did not want to leave the beach so we just lingered until  we started getting hungry.  We quickly showered and were ready for cocktails by 6:30.

And early afternoon, Evie had poached some chicken thighs, so there was not a lot to do for dinner. Around 7:15, Rich and I took the cooked thighs down and grilled them with barbecue sauce, while Evie cooked wide noodles in the chicken broth, and Linda made the coleslaw, a Davis/Holzheimer recipe from way way back...barbecue chicken, noodles cooked in broth and coleslaw.  Yum.

We stayed up till 10:30 watching various games, Rich complaining loudly when one of his March Madness  teams was doing poorly.  The rest of us could care less really.  I think I could get used to life here at the beach though there's not much to get used to, just waking, walking,  coping rays, as we used to say in the old days, and eating...what a life.

As I wrap this up, Linda and Rich are in church, Evie's getting our room in order, straightening up the kitchen and living room before taking a walk.  We will be back around 10:30 for a big breakfast, I hope. After all, it's Sunday.