The Beach

I actually went to the beach twice today. This morning we went to the Nerita St. beach to go for a walk. Despite having to walk into a heavy breeze going east, we made it to Summer of 42 which is about a mile. And of course it's another mile back. :) The Monsoon we had yesterday played some real havoc with the beach. Lots of little ditches dug into the beach from the wave action. One of the ditches was pretty big though and was about 5 to 6 feet across and at least a foot deep.When we got home I decided to head down to one of the West Gulf beaches to see how the shelling was after the storm. It's always such a pretty walk from the parking area to the beach.

The beach was relatively empty. Season is definitely over. There were lots of birds on the beach--probably enjoying the uncrowded beaches like I was.

And--there were several sting rays scaring the heck out of the minnows and kept coming right up on the beach with the waves. They were so fast I couldn't get a decent picture. The shelling wasn't all that great but it was so nice on the beach I didn't really care. Lots and lots of ghost crab holes. I saw one but by the time I got close enough to take a picture, he saw me and went down into his hidey hole.So, I had another dog encounter today! This time it was a puppy and was on a leash but when these people passed by me, I just had a feeling. So I turned around and was ready to take pictures. Remember all the bird pictures I took? Well, I walked up on the beach and around the birds knowing full well that they were resting. I always have and always will do this. Why do others feel that they own the beach and the birds should get out of the way??? Anyway, This couple with their leashed puppy proceeded to walk towards the birds which meant the birds had to high tail it up on the beach. At which point, the puppy pulled at it's leash to chase the birds. AND---the gal let the leash out to it's full length so the puppy could go after the birds making them all fly away. WHAT IS WITH PEOPLE ANYWAY?????Interesting--there were no ditches on the beach like there was at the East end. One thing I like about the West Gulf beaches are the flowers growing on the dunes.As I was leaving the beach, nature presented me with one other beautiful sight--nice big puffy white clouds.

So--The Leash Law Doesn't Apply to Everyone????? RANT

We went for a walk on the beach this morning--along with a LOT of other people. As you may or may not know--Sanibel has a leash law. Every (or at least I thought every) dog must be on a leash at all times. So we are walking along and come upon a woman giving her black lab a drink of water. I noticed that it wasn't on a leash but I didn't say anything. So, the woman and her dog are following us. The dog is running all over creation. Running in the water. Running up to people. Running all over the beach. But I didn't say anything.

About a mile down the beach, there is an area taped off for a Snowy Plover nest. Sanibel has the only significant breeding Snowy Plover population in SW Florida.
We walked up to the taped off area where I took a picture of the sign. We looked and looked for the nest but they are very hard to find. Didn't find it. So we continued our walk on down the beach.

When I turned back to look for the dog again, there he was running through the taped off area!!! The woman yelled at him and he ran back to her.

We walked a bit farther down the beach then turned around to head back to the car. As we were heading back, some little kids were petting the dog and the woman was talking to them. I got up the nerve and told her that the dog should really be on a leash. She said that she knew this but he was a police dog in training and needed to run. When I mentioned that he had run through the Snowy Plover area, she said she didn't know why he did that--he never bothered the birds before. (Well I guess there is always a first time, huh?) I also nicely told her that she shouldn't let the beach patrol catch her without the dog on a leash. She very nicely responded that she knew the beach patrol person and that it was ok.

Soooooo--I guess the leash law doesn't apply to everyone--especially "police dogs in training." And---should a "police dog in training" be allowed to be so friendly with people? I know nothing about training police dogs but it would seem to me that you wouldn't want them all that friendly.

On the way back past the Snowy Plover area, we saw a couple of the birds out on the beach. I don't know whether these were the parents who got scared off the nest by the "police dog in training" or whether they were chicks.
I do know, though, that apparently leash laws don't apply to everyone!

Stars on Ice

Last night we attended the opening night of Stars on Ice. I have long been a SOI fan. It was formed in 1986 by Scott Hamilton. Scott grew up in Bowling Green and began his skating career in the arena there. Even after he was a star, he would come back every other year and skate in the local ice show. He also brought his early SOI to the arena which is where I saw my first show. Scott retired from skating awhile ago and I really miss him. He was amazing. But his not being there hasn't stopped me from going to the current show.

Usually the show opens in Lake Placid in November or December but because of the Olympics this year, the show was delayed until last night. So, we got to see the very first show of the tour! And from ice level seats! I have ALWAYS wanted to sit down front and last night we were able to. Yay.Yup, the 110 is right in front of my chair and yup, that's ice right in front of that.
The cast this year consists of Sasha Cohen, Tanith Belbin & Benjamin Agosto, Meryl Davis & Charlie White, Todd Eldredge, Yuka Sato, Michael Weiss, Jeremy Abbott, Alissa Czisny, and Evan Lysaacek (on Thursdays through Sundays-He's on Dancing with the Stars the rest of the time.) These are the permanent cast. During the tour they will have guest skaters come in. Last night we had Marai Nagasu, Joannie Rochette and Cadee Denny and Jeremy Barrett. Shen and Zhao from China are guests also this year but they didn't skate last night. Dang! I would so love to see them. I was especially excited to see Alissa Czisny. She also grew up and started skating in Bowling Green. She also graduated from BGSU. I took a BUNCH of pictures but most of them are blurry darn it. So bear with me. I'm going to post some of them anyway.

Opening Number

Tanith and Ben

Alissa

Sasha

Alissa and SashaBen on heavy metal guitar

Yuka

Jeremy

Evan

Todd

MichaelMichael & Jeremy

Yuka and Alissa

Davis and White Marai

Joannie

Denny & BarrettClosing Number

Curtain Call

Entire Cast

It was a great evening. I got the tickets in January so it has been a looonnnggg wait to see the show--but it was totally worth it.