Emerald Coast (day two)
All Eyes to the Skies
This morning, all eyes were to the skies bright and early based on weather projections we had been following the past few days.
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Nudging my husband at 5:45am, and maybe lying a little bit about the time on the clock, he dressed and accompanied me to the beach. At this point in our marriage, he knows that nudge means I’m going anyway, but would like him to go. Tropical Storm (now Hurricane Nate) was approaching today, and we were predicted to be just on the outskirts of the hurricane warning. Besides, it’s always a great time to walk the beach when everyone else is sleeping! So we slipped out, leaving our children with the grandparents, and maybe forgetting to leave a note. (Remember the days of doing that? Now we have an electronic leash called a cell phone!)
We meandered down to the beach, enjoying the feel of the sand between our toes. The sand here is unlike sand in other places we have traveled, and knowing we married on a beach in the US Virgin Islands over 14 years ago along with being avid cruisers and vacationers, we know our beaches well. This sand is some awesome stuff! Going east, we passed various birds, all looking towards the skies, and we remarked “all eyes to the skies today, not just our own”.
Heading East Towards the Sunrise
There were very few people were out, which made it nice to stroll along at our own leisurely pace. Having a
chance to explore without keeping a third eye on the girls was relaxing as well. We looked in the distance, and it’s just like seeing the next casino in Vegas: that pier isn’t too far! Which it wasn’t, so it made for a great walk as we headed east towards the pier outside Anglers. A few were already out surfing (it was still only one red flag), some were doing yoga, others were set up with tripods, and more were just like us… meandering without a care in the world for the moment. Once we made it to the pier, it was just in time for sunrise. We snapped a few quick pictures, visited with some others doing the same thing, and began our journey back.
Red Flags Rising!
Once back, we enjoyed the afternoon and impending arrival of the tropical storm warning, storm surge warning, hurricane watch, and later tornado warning. We were not going to let a day go to waste, so as always, we were intent on getting the MostPerMile out of our day. Seeing the community switch into action was quite a learning experience in itself! We had the opportunity to really see what those flag warning signs were all about. Day one (Friday) had been one red flag. Major warning, but beach and waters were still open.
Today added a second flag: Red Over Red. We watched at a lifeguard came by on the four-wheeler, blow her whistle at surfers and hold up a flag, then proceed to the next line of flagpoles to raise the Red Over Red.
Off To Storage
Next came the trucks along the beach to gather all beach equipment: kayaks, surfboards, chairs and umbrellas. While they had storage units for these on the beach (such as the white ones below in the corner of the truck picture near the beach volleyball court) the prediction was that the entire beach area would be flooded, included those storage bins.
Pelting Sand
We still went ankle deep to feel the water later that afternoon, which learned was okay when walking along the beach. Over a dozen surfers remained in the waters a couple hours after the Red Over Red was raised, but eventually all came out. We went down to experience the changes going on, feel the wind, and goodness, that fine sand pelting your legs at high rates of speeds hurts! The only other time we have felt sand like that was in August 2017 when a super tsunami was in Japan and we were re-boarding a ship in Aomori after the Nebuta festival – quite a distance away from the actual tsunami!
Dinner that evening was at our condo for our large group. A reunion dinner combined with the arrival of Nate. Wow! This group gets together every five years, so it was interesting poking our head out every now and then! We weren’t going to let a hurricane watch ruin the party, and as always, we were getting the MostPerMile out of the day visiting with many friends – some friendships for almost 20 years that both my husband and I know with some longer than others. Stay tuned to see how Day Three turned out – the aftermath! But one final picture from that morning, again, with all eyes to the skies:
Possible Curriculum Correlations in Texas:
** Hurricane Nate added some learning opportunities to this three-day trip!
(7) Earth and space. The student knows that the natural world includes rocks, soil, and water that can be observed in cycles, patterns, and systems. The student is expected to:
(A) observe, compare, describe, and sort components of soil by size, texture, and color;
(B) identify and describe a variety of natural sources of water, including streams, lakes, and oceans;
(8) Earth and space. The student knows that the natural world includes the air around us and objects in the sky. The student is expected to:
(A) record weather information, including relative temperature, such as hot or cold, clear or cloudy, calm or windy, and rainy or icy;
(B) observe and record changes in the appearance of objects in the sky such as clouds, the Moon, and stars, including the Sun;
(C) identify characteristics of the seasons of the year and day and night; and
(D) demonstrate that air is all around us and observe that wind is moving air.
(8) Earth and space. The student knows that natural events and human activity can impact Earth systems. The student is expected to:
(A) predict and describe how different types of catastrophic events impact ecosystems such as floods, hurricanes, or tornadoes;
(B) analyze the effects of weathering, erosion, and deposition on the environment in ecoregions of Texas; and
(10) Earth and space. The student knows that climatic interactions exist among Earth, ocean, and weather systems. The student is expected to:
(A) recognize that the Sun provides the energy that drives convection within the atmosphere and oceans, producing winds and ocean currents;
(B) identify how global patterns of atmospheric movement influence local weather using weather maps that show high and low pressures and fronts; and
(C) identify the role of the oceans in the formation of weather systems such as hurricanes.
(11) Organisms and environments. The student knows that interdependence occurs among living systems and the environment and that human activities can affect these systems. The student is expected to:
(A) describe producer/consumer, predator/prey, and parasite/host relationships as they occur in food webs within marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems;
(B) investigate how organisms and populations in an ecosystem depend on and may compete for biotic and abiotic factors such as quantity of light, water, range of temperatures, or soil composition;
(C) explore how short- and long-term environmental changes affect organisms and traits in subsequent populations; and
(D) recognize human dependence on ocean systems and explain how human activities such as runoff, artificial reefs, or use of resources have modified these systems.
