A lesson


I hope that you won't mind my being in teacher mode today as I share with you about this barrier island.
Sanibel Island is a crescent/paisley shaped island on the southwest coast of FL. It is about five miles wide and about 13 miles long. to the north of it is Captiva Island. When we first began coming down here in the mid 70s, Sanibel and Captiva were separated by Blind Pass, a small inlet to the Gulf.  Hurricane Charlie  closed Blind Pass but separated Captiva from N Captiva, now reached only by boat and airplane. Blind Pass has been closed a number of times over hundreds of years but I am not sure about the opening between Captiva and Captiva.

We stay at about the widest part of the island and that has changed also. When we first came our approach to the beach was down a walkway over a bridge and onto the wide beach. Over the years, the bridge has been made longer because the island is building more dunes at this location. I first noticed that there were no longer any sea  as we crossed the bridge. Next, the beach grass began growing farther out. The end of our path, where we always kicked off out shoes, was no longer well-defined. (Our rule was that you left your shoes with the toes pointed in the direction in which you were walking so you could be looked for if needed). Now the third dune is building; the sea oats are there again as they were for the first two, making a place for the sand to anchor. Our beach is still wide and we can still walk way into the ocean but it gets a little deeper faster - it is sometimes even over your head, I hear. 

I am not sure why people think that the earth and humans changed for so many years but now things should remain the same.  If there have been millions of years of change, I am sure that change will continue - on barrier islands and everywhere.

Right now we are in the middle of our afternoon thunderstorm. We have had some doozies in the last few days - the swimming pool is about to overflow. I had to leave the porch because it was blowing through the screen so hard that I was getting wet. Not damp. Wet!

Tomorrow I will take pictures, but today it is back to the novel - or to a nap!

All will be well, 
XOXOXO, 
Caroline

Comments

Vicki Styons said…
Sanibel and its evolution sound as wonderful as ever! Have fun!
June 16, 2015 at 12:31 AM
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