Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes! I had a fantastic birthday weekend, and Mr. Zog really did spoil me rotten! Sammy brought me a wrapped little package this morning, he carried it very gently and gave it to me. Mr. Zog gave me a gold necklace with a pendant shaped like a leaf that has black coral in the middle. It's so beautiful. He nailed my taste exactly. (He's good that way.)
On Saturday we went to the botanical garden, and as it's National Public Gardens Week, I even found a discount coupon online: buy one adult admission ticket, get one free. So we both got in for $10. WIN! I'll post some pictures as I go through them.
Then he spoiled me with a lovely dinner. Sunday, unfortunately, I had to work, so we just stayed around the house.
Today we both had the day off and went to the beach. To Sebastian Inlet, to be precise. I like it there because you have the choice of swimming in the lagoon or the ocean, they are only about 100 m apart, separated by a thin sliver of barrier island. I much prefer to swim in the lagoon. I can swim, of course, but I'm not a strong swimmer. If I were to get into a rip current, I'd be in deep trouble. Mr. Zog wanted to do some fishing off the pier.
And that is when my birthday turned from fantastic into... just... super amazing special. I have no words how special. I had one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and that's saying a lot.
When we arrived, we both had a splash in the lagoon, and then I set myself up on the beach, with a camping chair and umbrella and a good book to read. Mr. Zog set off to fish. Within 5 minutes I realized sitting on the beach was a bad idea. The wind was howling. My sun hat was about to lift off, so was the beach umbrella. The pages of my book were flapping. Not nice. So I pulled up stakes and migrated back to the lagoon.
It's shallow there, you have to wade in a good long way to swim. I was in about chest deep water, just sort of floating. There were only two other people there, pretty far away. Suddenly something bumped me from behind. Something big. I immediately thought the worst. There are bull sharks in the lagoon, and who knows what else. The Jaws theme song was playing in my head. I managed not to scream and turned around and... oh my goodness.
Two manatees were nudging me and poking me with their bristle brush noses, snorting at me. They stayed around me and just... interacted with me. They were obviously curious. They nuzzled me and bumped me and in return I scratched their noses, which they seemed to enjoy. They're protected, and you're not supposed to touch them in the wild, but who would know. They just hung around me and swam with me and circled me, and I gave them nose and back scratches.
It was the most amazing experience. People pay hundreds of dollars to swim with captive manatees in places like Sea World. Here I was, having a swim with two of them in the wild. Not hundreds of other people there in a sea park... just in their natural habitat. Wow. What gentle and beautiful creatures. Eventually they swam off, into the inlet.
And then I could breathe again.
Topic: Life in America - I made the move. (Read 1285446 times)
