When my niece was a child she had to do a report on different leaves.

Having just moved to South Florida from Ohio, I was intrigued by the Sea Grape. So I sent her some, and she wrote a little report on the Sea Grapes.

Now, I can’t site my source, but I do remember something about how a Sea Grape simply can’t survive if it is not near the ocean. And that nugget of information, completely accurate or not, fits right into this over dramatic, over romantic statement:

I have a Sea Grape Soul. I simply can’t survive if I am not near the ocean.

 

 

“I want first of all… to be at peace with myself. I want a singleness of eye, a purity of intention, a central core to my life that will enable me to carry out these obligations and activities as well as I can. I want, in fact–to borrow from the language of the saints–to live “in grace” as much of the time as possible. I am not using this term in a strictly theological sense. By grace I mean an inner harmony, essentially spiritual, which can be translated into outward harmony. I am seeking perhaps what Socrates asked for in the prayer from the Phaedrus when he said, “May the outward and inward man be one.” I would like to achieve a state of inner spiritual grace from which I could function and give as I was meant to in the eye of God.”

― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea

 

 

 

The short and sweet walk to sunrise.

 

Good Morning, Moon.

 

The walks, and talks that are just never quite long enough.

  

“Don’t wish me happiness
I don’t expect to be happy all the time…
It’s gotton beyond that somehow.
Wish me courage and strength and a sense of humor.
I will need them all.”
― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea

 

 

The Shell Line.

 

 

True Treasures: Sea glass, Heart-shaped Rocks and Driftwood!

  

“The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. To dig for treasures shows not only impatience and greed, but lack of faith. Patience, patience, patience, is what the sea teaches. Patience and faith. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach—waiting for a gift from the sea.”
― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea

 

 

Sand gets…. well… Everywhere. (Sandy is NOT the same as dirty!)

  

 

 

The entire life cycle of the Sea Turtles: (Mama’s Tracks  The Nest  Baby Tracks)

 

 

 

and a willing though exhausted friend who helps me fill in holes the tourists left. We don’t want the babies or mama’s to fall in!

 

The Storms that seem to stay offshore, or not.

    

Artwork at the beach.

  

 

 

Sharing my passion for sunrise (and dolphins) with sweet little girls.

   

 

The perfectly timed Seagulls.

 

 

Pumphouse.

 

 

Intentional Solitude

“How inexplicable it seems. Anything else will be accepted as a better excuse. If one sets aside time for a business appointment, a trip to the hairdresser, a social engagement or a shopping expedition, that time is accepted as inviolable. But if one says: I cannot come because that is my hour to be alone, one is considered rude, egotistical or strange.”
― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea

      

  

  

 

 

Surrounded by colors a camera can’t capture – and photoshop can’t improve on.

“This is what one thirsts for, I realize, after the smallness of the day, of work, of details, of intimacy – even of communication, one thirsts for the magnitude and universality of a night full of stars, pouring into one like a fresh tide.”― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea

 

                  

 

                  

 

 

 

Rushing to South Dock for Sunset

 

 

I simply can’t survive if I am not near the ocean.