First Friday on the Island...

We had some rain today. Not much, just little showers that lasted a few minutes a couple of times. We still made it for our before breakfast beach walk, some sun tanning time, and our before dinner beach walk. The ocean was calmer today, no "roar" up here at our cottage, and less wind. We had to search on the internet to find out the sea birds that we see. One is a great crested tern. At first we thought they were seagulls, but at closer view could see they had a different look. They like to hang out in groups, and are not frightened away by us walking past. They will shift out of our path, but don't bother taking flight. Another are the little sandpipers. They look very delicate, their tiny legs going too fast to actually see, following the waves in and out and picking away at whatever it is they eat. And the pelicans...the first time I saw one dive I was sure something fell dead out of the sky. They will glide so close to the surface of the water it looks as if their wings are skimming it, but will fly up higher and just dive into the water head first when they spot dinner. It's very awkward looking, after their graceful gliding but it obviously works for them!
We also discovered that it is unlawful to pick sea oats. Since I had no idea what sea oats look like, I had to look that up on the internet as well. I have no idea why anyone would want to pick sea oats, they are not aesthetically pleasing at all. Sure wouldn't want it in your garden, or in any dried arrangements. If you look down to the bottom of this page, I've put a picture of a great crested tern and some sea oats.
I also found out today that Florida does not have state income tax. I guess you learn something new every day!