Sanibel Island Day 1

Hello, Friends!
 
New friends and long time friends,

Many thanks for new subscribers.
Continued thanks to readers from years past.
I'm grateful for each of you signing on and
Reading along on my journeys.

Here We Are!!!
On Sanibel Island in Florida.
It is sunny, warm, green, some flowers,
Being outside without cold weather clothing
Makes me Dance!
Well.. sort of.

Makes me feel happy,
Makes me skip and hop.
Makes me look out at ocean and up into blue sky
And holler … “Hooray!”

Perhaps traveling by airplane,
Making change so fast from cold snow to mild
Heightens my joy.

At any rate,
I am happy today.

Walked by ocean,
Rode bike trail for 10 mile loop,
Visited nature center: Ding Darling Nature Preserve.
Saw white and brown pelicans,
Herons, other birds.

Dressing to bike took relearning layers.
Two miles down path, shed one layer,
Five miles, shed another.
Then another.

Tomorrow we will be more practiced
For warm-weather biking.

Today was also relearning how to ride
One-speed bike with coaster brakes.
Clutching, squeezing hand grips
As car approached out of side street,
Did not slow me ... One Bit!

Pedals as brakes are the way I first learned how to
Stop my very first bike—
My big heavy Schwinn bike.
Blue it was, and wonderful.
It was birthday present, 12 years old.

Neighborhood kids and I
Rode our bikes through vacant lots
On our block.

We played on bikes.
Here I am playing again!
Bike trail today in FL.

Playtime today had a little pool swimming.
First time I've been in pool for years!

I stepped cautiously down steps into water,
Hesitating before that last step that brought water
Up to hip socket level. (That's the hard one)

I thought of 20 years ago attending a family wedding in MT.
Gathered with relatives around motel swim pool,
I was whining about "water too cold—too cold to get in.”

Niece looked across pool and said,
"Aunt Lin, If you can bike across the U.S.
You can get in the Dang water!”

I remember thinking,
Why, I think she's right.
I got in.

Hugs, Lin

P.S. Just back from sitting on beach to watch sunset. Bob spotted dolphins. That was exciting. Best person to be with for having unexpected and interesting spotted: Bob.