Walking the Dog on Sanibel

Today the weather was so nice, we wanted to spend some time at the beach.  Little Puffin needed a bath anyway, so we took him with us.  He always seems to find a way to get sand all over himself.  On the way over, he stayed busy watching the scenery.

He especially enjoyed watching all the bikers.

We walked out to the beach at resident access 2.  The first thing I noticed was two people, relaxing, in beach chairs. 

(I thought to myself, maybe Harry and Lidy, but then reality clicked in and I knew they weren't here.)

The tide had been very high and had left lots of shells strewn about.

Puffin was excited. 

He hadn't been to the beach for a while.
He stood still, looking at the water like it was all new to him.

Then, when we started walking, he thought it was his job to sniff every shell on the beach.

And....sniff every piece of driftwood,

along with everything else.

He had a hard time understanding why the birds wouldn't come over to play with him.  I think he was a little disappointed.

Hmmm, maybe it was because he

had sand all over his face.

Dad asked him if he wanted to walk in the water.  He was going to, until a wave came up and he felt the cool water touch his paws.

He jumped backwards like he'd been

hit with ice water.

After that, he decided it was time to move on.

Then he saw a ledge and thought with a little digging, he might just find something good in there.

The waves were rolling in slowly,

but some of them were pretty big.

There were several people bent over, like they were finding shells coming in, up the beach a little further, around access 7.  But Puffin was getting a little tired after we had walked from access 2 to access 6, so we turned around to go back.  On the way, he had to stop to watch a couple of birds that were running along the high tide line.  They didn't have time to play either. :(  Oh well, we were leaving anyway.

             

A friend who comes to Sanibel frequently,  impressed me with a recent blog  post.  I hope you will take time to read it.

http://snugharborbay.blogspot.com/2011/08/any-soldier-program.html

Sunday Beach & Birthday Party

Today was sunny and 86 degrees with a cooling NW wind. It was perfect for sitting on the beach, visiting with a lovely couple from Holland. In the area where we were, the algae, seaweed or whatever, didn't seem to be coming in today. There was only a small amount left at the high tide line and it was mostly dried out. I didn't notice any odor from it either. It was so nice and relaxing that time flew by and when I realized the time, had to jump up and run to get ready for a friend's 40th birthday, surpise dinner party. No time to take pictures or video. I'm guessing that there may be some very nice photo opportunities this week because there's a 30 to 40% chance of rain each day. I love those Sanibel clouds. :-)

I did a post on my Treasure's From The Sea blog, with a few photos. You can check out the deposits in The Wicker Bank of Sanibel.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONY and MANY HAPPY RETURNS!

Another Sanibel Turtle Walk Day

This morning was the weekly 'turtle walk'. So, today's main post, pictures and video are on the Turtle Talk Blog.

This afternoon, the clouds went away for a while and the sun was shining, but the temperature stayed in the low 80's which was great!

Late evening, the clouds began to gather once again. Then I got excited because a Bobcat walked by again. Right after that, we had some light showers, where I was. Tonight, someone told me that they had lots of rain on the West Gulf Beach. Things are getting more green, already. :-)

Sanibel Friday & Friends

It was a warm day, here at Sanibel; 85 degrees with a west wind. On the west gulf beach this evening, the tide was very low. The water was calm and so clear that you could see the shells on the bottom. It was such fun walking along in the warm water, and being able to see through it. There weren't many shells that I would have picked up, but I did find 8 or 10 very small shells to take away with me. :-) There was also time for a quick visit with a couple of friends who are staying at the Blue Dolphin Cottages.




I know you guessed what this is. That's right; a sea brick! :-)

Monday Sanibel Wedding

It was 88 degrees today. I didn't get out to do anything until this evening, to take some pictures at a wedding on a West Gulf Beach near Mitchell's Sandcastles. It had cooled off quite a bit by then, but there wasn't much of a breeze where we were. Because of that, the noseeums were really annoying.

The bride and groom were waiting, when we arrived. We introduced ourselves, since we had not met in person previously, only on an internet message board. We had arranged to do them a favor by taking photos of the ceremony and be witnesses, because they were coming to the island alone. Shortly after that, the minister and his wife came. Another very sweet couple who live on West Gulf Drive, allowed the couple to use their beach front property for the wedding. The sky was really beautiful as we walked out near the beach.



The minister performed a very nice sand ceremony, the blending of two lives joined as one. The kind homeowners came out onto the beach, just at the conclusion and tossed handfuls of jingle shells over the couple, and also gave them a beautiful large horse conch as a wedding gift, along with their good wishes for a happy future together.



After a few more photos, we said our goodbyes to the newly married couple, who were very nice. I hope they will return for many anniversary trips; and we will get to see them again.



(Those of you who know sweet little Dottie, will know she's the person with lots of lovely shells to toss.) :-)


This is the beach just a little east of resident access 4.


The sunset, just after the ceremony.

My Sanibel Tree Mystery

Several weeks ago, when parking at the West Wind Inn, I noticed a really interesting tree. I took the time to take photos of it because I wanted to find out what kind it was. I asked several people and nobody knew the name of it. I have searched online, through pictures of tropical trees, off and on since that day, but had not found it.



Since we've been getting a nice rain this afternoon, and I've also been suffering from family withdrawal, I busied myself with more research to find the aforementioned tree. Finally my investigation paid off!

I believe it's a Madagascar Screwpine, (Pandanus utilis). I couldn't find any reason at all for the 'pine' part of the name, because nothing about it is similar to a pine tree. It is grown in tropical climates as an ornamental tree.

Evidently there are male and female trees. The male trees have 2-3 cm long, fragrant flowers that are surrounded by narrow, white bracts. The tree I was looking for was the female tree, which produces flowers with round fruits that are 10 to 20cm in diameter, and have many prism-like sections that are seed pods. This gives them an appearance similar to the pineapple. The seeds or nuts, are edible when roasted; and have a taste similar to the pecan. The heavy heads hang from stout branches and can remain on the tree for over 12 months, until they ripen. Seed pods can produce 4 to 6 plants and propogate easily in moist sand. They are sometimes grown from cuttings.



The large, light green leaves are spirally arranged on the stems. They are usually 90–150cm long and 5–7cm wide, with small white upturned spines along the leaf edges. The leaves are sometimes used, by slicing the leaves into strips and weaving them into craft items.

Stout prop roots are formed from the stem, which helps hold the tree erect and firmly anchor it in loose sand. Screw pine is sand and salt tolerant and can withstand strong winds. They can be grown on dunes to help bind the sand to prevent wind erosion. They are also used for windbreaks to protect other trees and plants that are less salt and wind tolerant.

After the tree mystery was solved, I looked outside and this was how the sky looked.


By then, the rain had stopped. Went to take a look on a West Gulf Beach, but it started lightly raining again, so I didn't linger other than to take a few quick photos. There was a scattering of shells at the high tide line. I believe another cold front is passing through, because it was very windy and was getting chilly around 68 degrees. A pretty big change from earlier today, when it was 83 and sunny.







Much better in HD on YouTube by clicking on screen below.

Sanibel Tuesday

Very nice and warm today with the temperature reaching 79. This evening on the west gulf beach, in front of Pointe Santo and Sanibel Cottages, the southeast wind was kind of chilly. There were small shells scattered on the beach and I saw no red drift algae there. There was a big starfish sand sculpture, in front of the Sanibel Cottages.

Taken in front of Sanibel Cottages. It was pretty windy and a little on the cool side . There were a lot of Sandpipers feeding and bathing.


I called today to ask about the laughing gull that we took to C.R.O.W. several days ago. You may remember the story about finding it. It didn't have any injuries that we could see, but they found that it's right wing and leg had been injured and that's why it can't fly. It is still in their care, receiving pain medication and they are optimistic that it will heal. We can call again next week for another update.

Shopping & Sunset Thursday

We got a surprise rain last night, which was great, since we need it badly. But, it was back to sunshine and 81 degrees today. We're supposed to have cooler weather for the weekend; with around 75 degrees tomorrow.

The drive across the causeway today was nice. There were some pretty white clouds floating overhead and the water was pretty calm. Many people were sun worshiping, fishing and picnicking on the causeway islands.

Going by the toll booths, I noticed some of the newly planted royal palm trees that I mentioned a few weeks ago, are indeed missing now. They were talking about it on the news last night. They have dug up over 40 palms, that cost over a thousand dollars each, at the causeway entrance that have died. It isn't known what caused the trees to die, but they and the soil are being tested to determine the reason. For the first year, the contractor cares for the trees, so hopefully they will replace them soon. The causeway islands are due for landscaping during the next couple of months. I can't wait to see that finished.

After lots of waiting at traffic lights, and several stops for shopping in Ft Myers, I was ready to head back to the island on 'The Happy Lane', just in time to watch a beautiful sunset on a west gulf beach by resident access 2.















Enjoy the sunset.....