Tag Archives: Ding Darling Nature Preserve

Birds and Shit

May 24, 2015 By in Travel Tags: , , Leave a comment

A whole bunch of years ago G and I rented kayaks at Puddledockers in Ithaca, NY. After setting us up with paddles and life jackets, the outfitter, a bored college kid, pointed to the right and said, “If you go this way, you’ll end up on the lake (Cayuga); if you go this way (left) you’ll see birds and shit.”

We went left. We like birds and shit.

This morning we went back to the Ding Darling Nature Preserve and rented kayaks. We toured it yesterday on bikes. I think I liked the kayaks better. Fish practically jumped into our yaks. Ospreys hovered overhead, then dove head first into the water trying to spear those same flying fish. G saw a turtle and some starfish. I saw watery trees reflected in still water.

We paddled a marked kayak trail through mangroves and at one point I got so close to a big heron I could have easily touched it. (It freaked me out, actually.) It is unnerving when a big, quiet, notoriously shy bird like that allows a person to get so close without taking off.

It is our last day here. Tomorrow we will be in Airport World. It has been a good getaway. We are both agreed that our time in the nature preserve was our best time here. Sanibel is a beautiful island. The water is soft and swimmable. There are plenty of good restaurants. But the best part is that 60% of the island is a nature preserve.

It has very good birds and shit. 

  

“I” is for Idle

May 23, 2015 By in Things I Like, Travel Tags: , , 1 Comment

“I would NEVER be sitting on the couch reading a book now, if I was home,” said G, just now.

“I would be out finishing the fence or cleaning the garage or walking Boomer or …”

Why is that? Why don’t we let ourselves rest, relax and re-set when we’re home? Why do we have to “get away” to be idle?

(I was just reminded of that line in the Mary Oliver poem, “A Summer’s Day” in which she said, and I am paraphrasing here, “I don’t know what a prayer is, but I do know how to be idle and blessed.”)

Idleness incubates creativity. It’s a fact. That’s why you should let your kids be bored. 

Often. 

It will force them to encounter who they really are, and come up with ways to amuse themselves that will show them what they love to do. 

The same thing with grown ups. Don’t mow the lawn or fix the fence or check Facebook. Let yourself be bored. Then watch what you do. Don’t do chores or work or check your phone. Then prepare to get squirrely. Hang in. Eventually you will gravitate to something. 

Maybe you will go for a run or pick up a novel or a sketchbook or your pen and your journal. Maybe you will scratch around in your garden–not because it needs to be weeded, but because you love to play in dirt.

When people tell me they don’t know what they want to be when they grow up, I say, “Watch what you do when you procrastinate.” Do you play your ukelele? Do you try out a new recipe?

Today G and I woke up early and went out to the Ding Darling Nature Preserve. We rode bikes and saw roseate spoonbills and cormorants drying their wings in the sun.

An alligator blocked our path. Uh-oh.

 

Back at the condo we napped and read and talked and showered. Apparently, when left to our own devices, we like to have adventures outside, and then reflect on them. We like to talk, and then be quiet, and then eat and sip interesting beverages. *grin*

I like to do this blog. It has become a source of real pleasure lately. I was forcing myself to post every day back in March, and now there is no forcing.

So, today has been brought to you by the letter “I” for Idleness. I hope you find some for yourself. It would be lovely to know how idleness enriches you.

 What do you do to be idle and blessed?