Trip Snapshots

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Snapshots of Our Trip’s Tradition

      When we’ve taken trips with our grandson, we have often developed a routine, usually according to a place we’re visiting, and what’s available nearby for the evening activities.  For example, last year, on the Oregon beach, we were near only one small town, so ended up visiting a variety of small towns in the area, eating the catch of the day for lunch, and spending quite a bit of time watching boats at the docks.  It was a prime interest for an eight year old to see what the sailors were up to.  There were other daily things, like finding each town’s best ice cream cone, and building a fire in the cabin fireplace each night, & having s-mores.  (It’s cold in Oregon, even in July!)

            This year of course, we flew the other way, to the Gulf in Florida, and shared different experiences, always close to our place on Sanibel Island.  As I wrote in the two previous posts, most of this time was spent watching animals and playing in or by the ocean.  We chose outdoor activities like visiting a nearby refuge, learning about an animal rehab hospital, and taking a sunset cruise on a bay – hoping to see dolphins and manatees, and we did!  This trip’s tradition ended as a simple, but grand one, one we looked forward to every day after the first evening.  We ended each day down on the beach to swim one more time, to play a little more in the sand, to look for one last good shell, and to watch and photograph the sunset.  This was the time of day we saw more people than any other time.  There were never many people, but more were there in the evenings to see this spectacular vision of the sun.  It was like being at a fireworks display on Independence Day, lots of ohs and ahs.   Each night the sky offered a particular different look to the sun, and we began to try to describe what was happening, as in ‘the clouds above are shading it enough that it looks hazy’ or ‘the wind earlier cleared the air, so it’s pure sun tonight’.  It became like little poems and I now wish I had written them down.  However, I did manage a good photo each night.

          One definition of the word ‘serendipity’ is “The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.”   I love how our trips seem to fall around us, delighting us with the usual because we are really noticing this time; and holding us in the particular place, a little group of three experiencing a small part of our world.

New Adventures - Poetically

Sunday, June 26, 2011


         In a Friday Poetry post, April Halprin Wayland showed a new poetry form called a trimeric.  Click on trimeric to see the post.  I thought it might be fun to capture parts of our trip with our grandson in a different way.  

                         I Watched My Grandson


      “We’re off to new adventures”, I shouted, and

     my husband and my grandson said,

     ‘We’re in!”

     So we flew to Florida, depositing ourselves on an island.

     My husband and my grandson said,

     “Let’s try out those new boogie boards.”

     Then, well-covered with sunscreen, we splashed and laughed ourselves silly.

     “We’re in!”  came the words for cruising Tarpon Bay.

     Amazing birds flew around us at sunset, while within our view

     swam dolphins and manatees.  It’s for precious moments

     that we flew to Florida, depositing ourselves on an island.

     I watched my grandson, already growing

     tall enough to meet my eye.

Some Great Learning On Our Trip

Saturday, June 25, 2011

An osprey on one of our walks in a refuge.

I’m not going to tell about every single place we visited on Sanibel Island, but one really interesting place that was special was CROW (The Center for The Rehabilitation of Wildlife).  The visitor’s center seemed new, and the displays of the different animals’ stories of rescue and rehab were well-done & sometimes so poignant.  One common tragedy for animals on the coast is to be caught up in fishing line that’s been abandoned in the ocean.  There were several cases shown, like a raccoon whose paw was almost lost because of a line wrapped around it.  If people on the island find any kind of animal that is in need, they are to call CROW, & one of the many volunteers come to pick it up, to transport it to the hospital for treatment.  One of the presenters (see below) was one of those transporter volunteers, and she showed photos of a raccoon rescue she did.  They have special equipment to capture the wild (and scared) animals, including safe boxes that hold the animal in a confined space so it won’t move around uncontrollably and further hurt itself.

Because the plan is to rehabilitate the animals back into their natural habitat as quickly as possible, they have little human contact, so in the displays, they had webcams of various parts of the hospital so we could observe without disturbing the animal.  For instance, one showed a small water area with several birds, including pelicans, hopping about, trying out mended wings, etc.  It was heartwarming to see the progress they were making.  We also learned that the veterinarians and workers there used both eastern and western medical techniques in the healing process.  Acupuncture was used often to alleviate pain, and various kinds of herbal diets were used for differing needs. 

We happened to visit on the day of a presentation from two of their volunteers about armadillos and raccoons, which was good.  One of the presenters was also an author of two picture books.  Her name is Kyle L. Miller, and the books were science/animal based and about a baby armadillo and shore bird life on the Florida beaches.  It was fun to talk with her, to have Carter experience this too, and we bought the shore bird book, Snowy Pea and The Ghost Crab, a nice souvenir of this adventure.  It’s a beautiful chapter book, with journal-like illustrations.

It was terrific to see this place, to connect the animals we were enjoying so much on our trip to what others were doing to help the animals on the island.   It took us all deeper into what the habitat really meant, not just to vacationers but to those who are having to adapt to the people’s ways, the animals. 

Here are two quotes that were posted on the walls:

“Lots of people talk to animals…  Not very many listen, however.  That’s the problem.”  Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh

“Only if we understand can we care.  Only if we care will we help.  Only if we help shall they be saved.”  Jane Goodall

Beginning of our trip

Friday, June 24, 2011

On Our Way

Up with the sunshine,

Pack, eat, last minute check, drive,

Whew! On way to airport;

love waiting to fly!

Leaving Home – Looking Ahead

Too many lists, too much to do,

Now it’s time for a break

just to be with you.

The ocean swells into my heart,

I love looking outward

until we must depart.

We had a marvelous time in the past week on our trip to Sanibel Island with our grandson.   Exactly what we anticipated happened:  we spent hours on and in the ocean, we looked for and found some special shells, and we saw some animals in the wild more than once.   We tried hard to be part of this unique environment, looking at plants, watching seabirds, and talking with those who lived there year-round.  This is the fifth trip we’ve taken with our grandson, and each time we’ve developed a rhythm to it, yet not always the same one.  We found a grocery and shopped for our favorite foods as well as some special ones.  We planned to eat out whenever a restaurant strikes us as interesting, so the grocery cart is not very full, but full enough with the basics and those few special items.  We stop at a visitor’s center or just look at the wire advertising kiosks outside the store to grab a few local tourist magazines.  The first night, we plan the next day, list what we don’t want to miss during the trip, take a long walk by the ocean, already finding beautiful shells, and walking with a group of ibises, looking for last minute snacks.  We dip our feet in only, kind of like tasting a new recipe before serving.  We know the next full day of our trip will be such an adventure, and it’s been a long day of travel, so this day, it’s early to bed.  The rest of the trip awaits!

Summer solstice by the sea --tuesday slice from ipod

June 21, 1911

Anticipation-
One final day of gazing
Ocean hypnotics.

Search is also on.
Best wave and interesting shell,
Prettiest sunset.