Some Added Thoughts and Pictures

After posting yesterday about some of the special people we have met here in the Keys, I started to think about the richness of friendship.  Here at the Fishing Lodge, it feels like we have come to have fun at camp or maybe to play with some new playmates. And that is true for sure, but in a grander sense we are all here sharing our histories and the accumulated moments of our lives. 

Being here for two months each winter means that we are more than casual friends with people.  We have watched couples as they faced the end of life for a partner, heard stories of families who have lost a child, or experienced the unexpected death of a young man in his forties.  We know some who have survived cancer or horrendous accidents. And some who are suffering with a gay child and the treatment he has received from others.  And we could go on and on sharing the life moments that have formed the lives of our people here.

So we ARE having fun and sharing play time, but in special ways we are here building human connections, and expressing care for one another.  This community has been a special place for us and we are enriched each day by the friends we have made here. We respect them and the lives they have lived, and now share with us.

                                                                  **********

Another couple we like to share some time with is Rachel and Joel.  They are from New Hampshire and we have been getting to know them better over the past two years. They participated in our Acadia gathering in Maine.  We are planning a visit to the bridge, "Old Seven" in a few days.  It will be about a 5 mile round trip walk out to Pigeon Key.  We hope to have some more turtle sightings!

Here are some pictures taken on this walk on previous occasions.

Bald Eagle.

Osprey

Sea Turtle - Loggerhead, I think.

We continue to have some great nature sightings here at the Lodge as well.  I want to share a few...

Reddish Egret

Reddish Egret feeding - one of my favorite shots.

Snowy Egret and Imm. Tricolored perching on campers truck. (Hard to see both birds)

White Ibis and a Willet feeding together.

And here is something I had never seen before! Horseshoe crabs mating on the beach at the Fishing Lodge. Can cross that off the bucket list. ha!

More special moments at Bahia Honda State Park too.

Notice the heart above the beak and the pink feet. Breast cancer awareness😍

Lovely Goose Barnacles

Semi-palmated Plover

Black-bellied Plover

Diving Brown Pelican getting a fish

So here we are! Enjoying nature, the birds, and the turtles, and everything we can find that speaks to us of the wonders of life. We are loving life, and loving sharing it with all our special people at Big Pine Key Fishing Lodge. We can only say "Thank You".