One thing I want to teach my children is to stop and look for dolphins.
I know, the saying is, "Stop and smell the roses." But you know what a terrible gardener I am.
We have a few bridges that cross the bay and we have to travel over them pretty often. I love being the passenger in the car instead of the driver because I get to scan the water for dolphins. And pretty often I see them in my short 6 minute trip across the bay, one or two dolphins swimming together.
It makes my day.
My husband would always tell me, "You're lying, there are no dolphins out there." And he'd accuse me of mixing up a wave with a dolphin. And I'd get all mad, No! I really see them! He did this for years until he finally revealed to me that he knows they're out there, he's just trying to get a rise out of me. Booger.
Anyway, this week I took the kids out to the marina. We parked and strolled down the long, long wooden pier. 
The marina sits right at the mouth of the bay, and it's right by our house and sometimes dolphins and manatees swim around there. Of course, we didn't see any. But we called them and called them hoping they'd come.
The marina sits right at the mouth of the bay, and it's right by our house and sometimes dolphins and manatees swim around there. Of course, we didn't see any. But we called them and called them hoping they'd come."Dolphin Fish!" "Man-Tee Fish!" "Neeeeemo!" But no. No fish. No Manatee. No Nemo. We did see a fisherman if that counts. But no big fish. But that's ok. Because Poops gets it now. And the world is so different now that he's "getting" so much. I want to do all the stuff we've done before again, because I know there will be a new reaction to all of it.
So we spent an hour out there standing on the pier in the hot Florida sun calling for fish. And we loved every minute of it. Watching the sun's rays make sparkles on the water. Trying to count all the sparkles on the water. 
Watching the clouds. Listening to the seagulls. Watching the boats. 
Seeing the pinfish swim under the dock. It was quite beautiful. And beyond peaceful. Life just gets too busy sometimes. I must remember to keep this promise to myself. To stop rushing around all the time, darn it.
Watching the clouds. Listening to the seagulls. Watching the boats. Seeing the pinfish swim under the dock. It was quite beautiful. And beyond peaceful. Life just gets too busy sometimes. I must remember to keep this promise to myself. To stop rushing around all the time, darn it. 
And to always make time to stop and look for the dolphins.
When I lived out on Madeira Beach, I used to see dolphins all the time when I was crossing the bridges to the mainland. I used to make a point of looking for them, or sitting out along the bridge and just waiting. They made my day.
ReplyDeleteI loved to drive over the Skyway. There's nothing like driving over the bay and seeing either Pinellas or Manatee (depending on what direction you were driving) spread out before you and into the Gulf .
There are times I really miss Florida.
Just not during hurricane season ;)
How fun!! The boys are too cute :)
ReplyDeleteAw, such a beautiful place to just take the time to be, with or without the dolphins or "man-tees."
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post! We all need more of those "looking for dolphin" moments.
ReplyDeleteThat's just darn awesome!
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