East Coast of Florida
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![[Watch Your Step]](under_construction.gif)
East Coast of Florida
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I like this area of Florida a lot, and lived for while with my daughter on the ocean at Ormond Beach. My desk looked out across the dunes to the open water. It was a great place to write. I saw more sunrises there than any place I've ever lived, and part of my regular routine was sitting on the steps over the dunes in the morning with Lori before she went to school. A quiet time. I'd drink my coffee and we'd watch the water. Sometimes Bill and Doris would join us. Sometimes we'd talk, but more often we'd just sit there, each to our own thoughts.
There is a lot to this area, and many stories to tell. It will take me a while to build this page.
Last year Barbara and I went on a turtle watch at Canaveral National Seashore. It was one of those odd, semi-stormy days at the beach; thunderstorms over the ocean and gathering clouds inland. The water was choppy and rough, but great fun to splash around in. Later we visited the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge for an orientation talk. The weather cleared and after dark a ranger took us down to the beach where he had spotted a loggerhead that had come ashore to lay her eggs. It was an incredible experience to witness a ritual that had been repeated unchanged for eons, and as I watched I looked over the dunes and saw the lights of the space shuttle on the launch pad over at the Cape at the same time. The proximity of the very old and the very new hit me hard as I stood in the darkness under a starry sky. The only sounds were the soft whisper of the ranger, the ocean waves and the slap of the turtle flipping sand over her eggs. Seemingly exhausted, she made her way back slowly toward the surf, resting frequently. As she got close she held her head up and made a turtle-speed dash to the water. I watched her toss in the surf and finally disappear into the black ocean. It was a very moving experience.