We stopped at a marina to have some showers and run to the store. What we found were birds, manatees and generosity.

First, the birds: This is quite the spot: Ospreys hung out in the rigging of boats, and at dusk flocks of birds started flying past the boat: White Ibis, Little Blue Herons, Tricolored Herons, Cattle Egrets... we walked down the dock to see where they were going and found a tiny island covered with birds... hundreds of birds. The Pelicans were hanging out with the Herons while the White Ibis seemed prone to squabble with each other, pecking and pushing and flying about... A couple Belted Kingfishers grabbed a few last fish as the sky darkened. I hoped to catch some great photos early this morning, but I was too late. All the birds were gone except for the lazy Pelican who were still preening and stretching. The cattle egrets were all congregating on surrounding boats and flying off to the west in flocks.

Then we saw the Manatees, which we had never seen before. 1000 to 1200 pounds, they are impressive and beautiful. right beside the boat!

And finally, generosity: Eariler in the afternoon, we were headed to the store, which was 4 or 5 blocks away... we stopped to ask a woman, Chris, which way to the store. She looked at us, with Isobel on her Skuut and said, "You don't want to walk there, Route 1 is too busy, take my truck, it is set up with car seats..." Wow, she wasn't a cruiser or a marina owner... she was the local AFLAC representative. Hope for this world comes from the wonderful people that it is filled with. Thanks Chris.

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