Life in the Slow Lane (The Pearl)

Sombrero Resort & Marina

“It’s hard for me to put into words why I like the beach so much. Everything about it is renewing for me, almost like therapy…Beach Therapy.” -Amy Dykens

Groundhog Day in the Keys...of course we saw our shadows! Does that mean it's going to be a longer winter...sounds good to me. We're still getting high winds, but that just reminds us of home. It makes it hard to take The Pearl out on the water and do any fishing, but keeps us cool even on warmer days. Most of our days lately have been in the low 70s but today we went into the 80s...a great day for the beach. What better way could you spend Groundhog Day and from the looks of the beach today, lots of other people had the same idea.

Groundhog Day History: Predicting the length of winter based upon whether or not an animal sees its shadow was nothing new to the German immigrants who settled Pennsylvania, although in the old country they relied on badgers and bears. Europeans marked winter’s midpoint on Feb. 2 by celebrating Candlemas Day, a festival of lights that also included a formula for predicting the arrival of spring. Each country had a little saying for their prediction; this is England’s song.

If Candlemas be fair and bright,

Come, Winter, have another flight;

If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,

Go Winter, and come not again.

I’m not sure if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, but here in the Florida Keys we did…if that means six more weeks of winter, then bring it on, we’re ready!

I love this little piece of Sombrero Beach

The dinghy dock at the beach was very busy today

This guy must have forgotten the rule...red, right, returning. He was on the wrong side of the channel marker and went aground.

A beautiful ending to a wonderful day

Sombrero Resort & Marina

“When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, ‘Oh – yes – I already have everything that I really need.” —Dalai Lama

Saturday I went to Sombrero Beach to watch the Turtle Hospital in Marathon release Dorothy, a sub-adult loggerhead sea turtle. Dorothy checked into the Turtle Hospital in July 2014. She was spotted by a 90 something year old Marathon resident named Dorothy floating at the surface near Sister’s Creek. She and family members helped rescue the turtle and contacted the hospital. In return the turtle was named after her rescuer. The turtle was treated at the Turtle Hospital for infection, high glucose, and an impaction. The Turtle Hospital in Marathon is a fully functioning veterinary hospital for sick and injured sea turtles. Their goals are to rescue, rehab, and release sick and injured sea turtles, educate the public through outreach events and local schools, conduct and assist with research aiding sea turtles and work toward legislation making the beaches and water safe and clean.

The hospital gives guided educational tours of the hospital facilities and the sea turtle rehabilitation area. It provides a presentation on sea turtles as well as a behind the scenes look at the hospital facilities and rehabilitation area. The hospital has five permanent resident turtles that cannot be returned to the wild, eight turtles that are ready to be adopted by an accredited zoo or aquarium and twelve sea turtles that are undergoing rehab at the moment. We haven’t made time to visit the hospital yet, but we hope to get there before we leave.

The crowd waiting for Dorothy to arrive