Wednesday 04 August 2004
Day 8
Here I sit on the plane, less than an hour from landing back at JFK. As I write and stare at today’s date, it is hard to believe that the much anticipated and sorely needed week in Paradise is now over.
This morning, I loaded up the car and checked out of the Sundial, then took a stroll back and forth on the beach for an hour. I didn’t do low tide this morning, because I would have had to go back and shower and clean and pack up more shells, and there wasn’t going to be time for that. So my stroll took place during the incoming tide, and I greatly resisted the urge to plunge myself into the Gulf and examine hands-full of stuff.
Finally, I exited the beach at the quiet pool cabana, washed off my feet, put on my sandals, and made for the car. Goodbye, Sundial – goodbye!
I drove to the Lighthouse Café and had a delicious lunch of seafood omelet – mmmm! Then I drove to the lighthouse beach and roamed the boardwalks and piney-scented paths through the forests, hopeful that I would get a picture of the elusive pileated woodpecker that lives there. I’d caught glimpses of him through the trees during the week, and heard him laughing more than once, but he would not stay still long enough for me capture a shot of him. These animals are wild – they are not socialized to people, despite the abundance of humans here. Disney’s Animal Kingdom it ain’t. Oh well. Next year. I did manage to get some decent shots of the lighthouse itself. Regrettably, it was time to leave, and as I pulled out of the parking lot for the last time, my soul cried out, “Goodbye, lighthouse beach – goodbye!”
Coming over the causeway, I decided on impulse to pull over into the parking lot of one of the causeway beaches for one last look. Even with the magnification of the camera’s lens on 16x, the lighthouse and the fishing pier already seemed so very far away.
Goodbye, Sanibel – goodbye, goodbye!