Blue Button... of course.

Amazing... this morning I found a new critter on the beach. Well, actually hundreds of new critters. I have never seen anything like this little blue thing before. When I saw the first one my thoughts were that it was something manmade, then I saw a second, and a third and then I realized the beach was littered with hundreds of these little things.

After prodding one with the leg of my sunglasses, I determined that the center had the consistency of a jellyfish. It was less than a quarter inch thick and about as big as a silver dollar. The blue fringe was pretty but reminiscent of the tentacles of a Portuguese man of war so I decided against touching it. However, I still didn't know what these little round blue things were.

When I got home and looked it up, I saw that they were called Blue Buttons. Well of course, that's exactly what they looked like, what a great name. They are not real jellyfish but like the Portuguese man of war they are a hydroid. The blue fringe which gathers its food does not sting but can cause skin irritation. Blue Buttons just float with the ocean currents and occasionally get washed ashore.

In keeping with the theme of this blog — finding things each day to be grateful for — I'm grateful that there are still new little miracles for me to find every day. Especially ones so appropriately named. I'm also grateful that I was not swimming in the ocean when these little critters were swept ashore.

Stunningly hot

The sunrise this morning was stunning. Unfortunately the photo doesn't let you know how hot the air was. Sultry, reminiscent of a sauna is the best way I can describe it.

Before I head out for my walks each day I check a wonderful weather website (http://www.wunderground.com) to see what's in store. This morning at 6:15 it was 83º and 98% humidity making the heat index 89º and that was even before the sun was up. Phew! In enjoyed my walk nonetheless and particularly enjoyed the intricate nuances of the massive clouds lined up offshore.

Whenever our Florida summers get too hot to bear, I just remind myself that even though most of the summer is better spent inside in the air conditioning, in the winter I don't have to shovel snow and spend time inside trying to stay warm. That suits me just fine.

I love you Bill...

Yesterday hurricane Bill passed far off the coast of Florida, fortunately. No damaging wind or rain but we got the kind of waves that surfers dream about. Everywhere you looked there were young men and women headed to the beach with their boards. Well, there were some old men and women scattered into the mix too. As my 55+ neighbor said, "once a surfer... "

This morning I took this dawn photo of one lone guy headed out to see if the fun was still there. The waves were pretty much diminished but the talk of Bill's day of exhilaration continued at the beach approach. Of course it brought a song to my mind and out through my lips. It's a good song but it's looking like I may hang on to it for a while, whether I want to or not.

If these young surfers were around during the time of The 5th Dimension they may also be singing The Wedding Bell Blues... "I love you Bill." Check out the link below to put yourself in a time warp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkMhWQgkZ8c

Shell seeker

You can always tell who the tourists are as they walk along the beach picking up and bagging sea shells as they go. We've all done it. Living on the beach I am no longer a shell seeker but this morning I happened to look down and saw this darling little peppermint shell and just had to pick it up. The way it was tucked into the sand my first thought was that it was an actual peppermint. You know, one of those pink candies with the white swirls. I'm happy it was a shell and unlike any in my collection that adorns the window sill in the kitchen.

There I have a very special and small assortment of unique beach findings. There's a whole sand dollar that I found... it has been years since I've seen one that's not broken. There are a couple of star fish, a lovely dark blue shell, one called a Florida auger, one called a sharks eye and now my peppermint shell which is actually a calico scallop. The first photo above shows the lovely colors, the second just to put things into perspective for you.

Sensory overload

What a sunrise... big dark clouds, pink streaks, a caldron of fire at the surface of the sea. It was intense to say the least.

Then I was confronted with the dawn launch of a Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral. I had forgotten all about it, but it was hard to miss! This launch was the last of the Delta 2 rockets and it was sending up a military global positioning satellite — the last of the GPS 2R satellites. Fascinating to watch it appear and then disappear between the clouds. The brilliant white contrail was a startling sight.

You think that was the last of the morning's stimulation? Think again. Not long after the rocket, I came upon a new loggerhead nest. I was struck with the anachronism of a rocket over the beach where the ancient ritual of a nesting turtle continued on. What is more amazing is that the turtle was born on this beach and returns here to nest and she didn't need any fancy GPS to get here. Um-m-m-m.

What a day... I was overloaded with amazing things all before 7 a.m.

My first baby... turtle, that is!

It was still practically dark when I started my walk along the beach this morning. Fortunately I happened to look down and saw one tiny, struggling little turtle just before my big ol' clumsy foot came down. All these years of walking on the beach, seeing the nests and even seeing several turtles laying their eggs, I have never seen a hatchling. Wow!

Thrilled is too mild a word for how excited I felt at seeing this little creature. But he was all alone and a good distance from his nest plus he was headed south, not out to sea. I tried to take pictures of him and every one was woefully blurry. I've included one blurry shot so you could see how tiny he is. Amazing it will grow to weigh about 350 to 400 pounds.

Several of the regular beachgoers stopped and watched him and we discussed whether we should put him in the ocean. I do know they have to get their muscles strengthened by crossing the sand and they need time to make an instinctive "imprint" of this particular beach so they can return here as adults.

Fortunately during our discussion the turtle patrol volunteer arrived. She picked him up and took him out about knee deep into the ocean. He bravely swam away to begin his life on the Sargasso Sea. I returned to the nest with the volunteer and saw their escape hatch. It was just such a small hole in the sand it was hard for me to imagine that 100+ little turtles all made their way out of the nest and to the sea. She also pointed out their tracks in the sand which she called scatter. If you look in the bottom photo above you may be able to make out several faint lines in the sand fanning towards the sea. These are about mid distance in the photo. That's evidence that my little fellow's brothers and sisters all headed to their new life.

I wish him well and hope that our paths cross again some day. If not, he gave me enough joy today to last for many many seasons to come.

Sea breezes and clouds

One of the most fascinating aspects of Florida weather (except hurricanes, of course) is what happens almost daily — especially in the heat of the summer. Being a peninsula Florida get winds from the west and winds from the east. When they collide we get not only wonderful cloud formations but thunderstorms. Today the skies to the east were a clear blue not a cloud in sight. When I looked to the west I saw an impressive line of big puffy white clouds so I grabbed my camera and ran to the river, well... at 90+ degrees, I drove to the river and took some photos so that I could share these wonderful clouds with you.

If the winds from the west are stronger they will push the storms in our direction. It is kind of a battle of the breezes if you will. Since I can hear the rumble of thunder in the distance, I guess the west has won, today!

Jellyfish, jellyfish

Swimming in the ocean is fun, refreshing and even exhilarating. What I saw on the beach this morning however reminded me of some of the shivers and perils associated with ocean swimming. Everywhere I looked there were jellyfish. Big ones about 12 to 14 inches across to little ones only 3 or 4 inches. Some were flat with internal pink colored clover shapes, some were thick with various levels of "jelly" and some even had little leg-like appendages. The amazing thing is they were everywhere. Must have made for some interesting swimming. As much fun as the ocean is, having something you can't see brush up against you is a bit unnerving to say the least.

I came home and looked up jellyfish and learned some interesting facts: Jellyfish have been around for more than 650 million years which means they outdate dinosaurs.

A species of jellyfish, the Box Jellyfish, kills more people each year than any other marine creature.

The worlds largest jellyfish can reach a diameter of eight feet and its tentacles grow to be half the length of a football field. Glad I didn't see any of those!

I don't know what made these guys wash ashore here, but I bet they gave some swimmers the shivers. Glad one of those swimmers wasn't me!

Wall of cloud

It seems so easy to get into the daily routine of life that without an occasional reminder to stop and savor the little things, we could let the routine drag us along from one boring chore to the next. Been there, done that.

Lucky for me that I get to enjoy the sunrise every day. There is nothing routine or ordinary about the magnificent colors, shapes and auras associated with the start of a new day. Good morning sun, I see you peeking through that wall of cloud with the wispy top!

Buzz on the beach

So why have I taken a picture of a hole in the sand and posted it here? That little hole — about 6 inches in diameter and a good 20 to 24 inches deep — caused quite a stir on the beach this morning. The tracks from the sea let us know it was made by a turtle and that's where the buzz on the beach begins. Let me explain...

Though these posts are usually about solitary things like my beach walks, the scenery, various critters, birds etc. I have not mentioned that each day I see many of the same people also on their beach walks or jogs. I know some by name because they live in my neighborhood but most are just folks I've seen practically every day for the past several years. We nod in recognition, say good morning or give a brief wave as we pass each other. It is quite an interesting little society. Needless to say one thing most of us have in common this time of year is turtle nesting. As I headed up the beach, one of my nodding buddies stopped and told me about a new nest where the turtle had come ashore, dug the hole to bury her eggs but had returned to sea without leaving the first egg. Most unusual. As I was taking photos of the empty nest another of the beach walkers arrived and much conversation ensued about this unusual circumstance. Next thing I knew there were several of us discussing the rarity of the empty nest.

Word spread and this unusual sight really caused quite a buzz on the beach. Later one of the turtle patrol volunteers said that though this was a rare occurrence it was not unheard of. What amazed me and other observers was how a huge sea turtle could dig such a precise and deep hole in the sand. I had somehow imagined the nests to be much larger and more shallow. Amazing the things mother nature can teach us. What a day!