Freeing Prisoners of the King (Tide)

Last weekend, a series of impressive king tides, swelled by the full moon, rose our Gulf waters a foot or more higher above normal. In south Florida, sea water ran deep in the streets.  But along our lightly populated coast, I noticed only submerged docks, from Lanark to Eastpoint. On St. Vincent Island, the king tides carved two long swales and filled them with salt Gulf water.  The pool closer to the dunes was deeper, and had apparently entrapped an … Continue

State Parks, and a Stingray

I walked along the edge of a marsh yesterday, and I came upon the body of a stingray. The ray had been dead a day or two, but it still seemed sentient to me, the way its wingtips rose and fell, gentled, in time with the small beats of the tide. Hermit crabs were making a meal of the ray’s body. With their front claws, they excavated bits of flesh, and fed themselves. They nibbled at the edges of the … Continue