We're finally starting to thaw out around here and just in the nick of time.
I have been whining and crying about the cold, holed up in my chilly house and wearing 4 and 5 layers of clothes for so long that I now have a serious case of cabin fever.
But the mercury has started climbing and on Thursday it got up to 57 - which felt like an absolute heat wave.
Time to go to the beach!
The Oldest Island Boy and I decided to take a walk out to the jetties.
We haven't been there since they finished putting in the new girders on the bridge.
Not as pretty as the original lines but when you're driving over it safe is better than pretty.
The Army Corp of Engineers are dredging the entrance to the harbor and have set up their operations base at the foot of the bridge.
The green boat is their office/break room.
The red boat shuttles workers out to the dredge barge and back.
There were ducks out enjoying the day
And a lot of pipes from the dredging operation along the beach.
When we saw this the Oldest said "I hope they're finished by summer because those pipes are right in the middle of our fireworks spot."
Isn't that sand amazing?
I like how the wind sweeps it around the jetties.
The sand that's being dredged is coming from the Pass and is sent from the bottom through these pipes and then up over the jetties and through a pipe that extends about a mile down Okaloosa Island. The sand ends up in front of Eglin's beach club.
The controversy over where that sand is going is huge and you can read about it here if you want. I don't have a dog in that fight so I'm keeping my opinions to myself.
A sad sight was waiting for us out at the jetties.
This poor boat washed ashore here back in October when her owner ran into some trouble navigating the Pass at night. The owner couldn't afford to have the boat towed off the beach but a local boat captain offered to help. He and his crew worked for several days trying to get her back in the water but had no luck.
And since then the situation has just gotten worse. Beach is building up behind the boat and now it's a lot farther away from the water than it was 3 months ago.
We wandered around the rocks for a while and then I found the perfect spot to sit a spell.
And when I say perfect I mean perfect. I was warm. I was comfortable.
And the view was spectacular.
Did I mention that I was warm? That's important.
I sat there for a long time soaking up the sun while the Oldest climbed around on the rocks.
It was a wonderful walk and seems to have cured my cabin fever.
Come on Summer - we're waiting for you.Labels: Done
