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Showing posts from January, 2012

My Island

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When you arise in the morning, (Credit:  Capt. Brian Holaway ) think about what a precious privilege it is to be alive  (Credit:   Capt. Brian Holaway ) to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. - Marcus Aurelius (Credit:   Capt. Brian Holaway ) You still have time to enter the giveaway for a Shellabration 2012 t-shirt.    Click here  to read the post & enter before  the winner is picked on 2/1/12.

TEB went to Sanibel and all she brought me was this awesome t-shirt.

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Oh my goodness ya'll!  I felt so guilty about going to Sanibel today without you - well I just had to get you something.   Okay, at least one person will get something.   The island is gearing up for one big shelling party - Shellabration 2012 honors the  75th anniversary of The Sanibel Shell Fair & Show.  From February 17th through March 4th the Island will be shellabrating from ding to dong (or Darling) If you would like to join in by wearing a Shellabration 2012 t-shirt here's all you have to do: -leave me a comment sharing which sea shell is your favorite. -for a 2nd entry, turn a friend on to TEB.  Have them leave a comment telling me you sent them over. I'll announce the winner of the Shellabration 2012 t-shirt on February 1, 2012. This is what Blind Pass on Sanibel looks like  before sunrise.  My partner-in-shelling-crime this morning (very early morning) is my cousin  Beach Babe.  She's a farm girl from Ohio so she gets up with the chic

We die daily. Happy those who daily come to life as well. ~George MacDonald

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This is Monday's tide chart for Sanibel Island.  Notice the big dip at 6am.  That is a minus .08 low tide which translated into beachcomber language = Hotdigity dawg! I'm on my way to Sanibel! I'll set my alarm for 3am.  After I hit the road & drink one of these, I'll be in Sanibel  in 1 1/2 hours. I'll be there in time to see this. (Credit:   http://www.foreverwherever.com ) And find some of these. (Credit:   http://www.cafepress.com/sanibelslacker.503030918 ) Woo Hoo!

Revisiting Tigertail

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One of my favorite places to go shelling on the planet is Tigertail Beach on Marco Island in South Florida.  Tigertail is not for the casual beachcomber.  There is a 50 yard wide, 3 foot deep lagoon to be crossed to get to the beach.  The good shells are at the north end of the beach which is another 2 mile walk out & 2 miles back.  No concession stands, no potties, no kidding.  My shelling buddy last year was my niece Schweckie.  We had an amazing time &  would have liked to have gone again with Schweckie this year but she's been a little busy being a new mommy. I'm re-posting my visit from last year & am hoping I will have new pictures soon if I can get the tides & the temperature to cooperate. (Originally posted January 19, 2011) The shells stretch for miles on Tigertail Beach As an avid sheller I have a bucket list of places I would like to visit. Some of my shelling dreams like Costa Rica or Belize will require some planning but closer to home

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in. ~George Washington Carver

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My last post showed pictures of a before-sunrise beach walk on Boca Grande. This is the other half of my beach walk on the southern tip of  Gasparilla State Park which is located on the island of Boca Grande.  Known for it's pristine beaches, historic resorts, & the world's biggest Tarpon tournament, I'm fortunate to have this paradise 15 minutes from where I live.  When I can't drive the 2 hours south to Sanibel Island, Boca Grande is the next best thing. The Lighthouse is home to a collection of Boca Grande history .  The building to the right is where the park ranger lives - lucky guy! The port of Boca Grande was established in the 1880's to support the local phosphate industry.  The remains of the port make a great sea bird sanctuary. I'd live there if I was a bird.  The old phosphate dock  serves a useful re-purpose for the local bird population. Looking south across the channel is where all the big Tarpon tournaments take place. M

Sunrise to the East and Moonset to the West on Boca Grande

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Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could.   Some blunders and absurdities no doubt have crept in;  Forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day;  begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This day is all that is good and fair. It is too dear, with it's hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on yesterdays. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Oh the Sanibel Stoop & the Sanibel Shuffle - Can he pack all his loot in his old Army duffle?" - from a poem by M. H. Greenberg

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(Credit: TMac Ohio from Flickr.com) There's even a name for the bent over posture of the people who you see walking on the beach looking for treasures:   The Sanibel Stoop. You might have noticed the new button I added on the sidebar promoting Shellabration 2012 happening on Sanibel Island February 26 - March 4.  The height of the Sanibel social shelling season is the Sanibel Shell Show & Fair which will be held March 1st - 3rd this year.  The Shellabration is week long celebration of all things invertebrate & mollusky. There will be special events from one end of the island to the other.  But one special event is seeking to immortalize the iconic stance of bending over on the beach to inspect the shells more closely and pick them up - THE SANIBEL STOOP. On February 17  at 10 am on Bowman's Beach will be the gathering place for 208 plus shellabrators looking to set a Guinness Book of World Records for the most people doing the Sanibel Stoop in one place at one t

Rejoice in the things that are present; all else is beyond thee. Montaigne

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The Sunshine Skyway Bridge spans across Florida's Tampa Bay, with a cable-stayed main span and a length of 29,040 feet; exactly 5.5 miles. Its part of I-275 and US 19, which connects  St. Petersburg  in Pinellas County and Terra Ceia in Manatee County, and passes through Hillsborough County waters.  We all have highways & by-ways that we travel on a consistant basis.  No need for maps or GPS.  All the landmarks and exits are all too familiar from years of back & forth.  That's how I am with I-75 & I-275 in Florida.  I have navigated them for so many years that I can put myself on auto-pilot and end up wherever I am heading north or south.  These days I travel north to St. Petersburg to the Bay Pines VA Hospital where the Hubbs has all his doctor appointments.  I know exactly how long it will take us to get there at any given time of day barring any unforeseeable circumstances.  Crossing the Sunshine Skyway is a spectacular drive.  The views of t