A Somewhat Different Place

So it’s vacation time. On Saturday, we piled in the car and drove eight hours to Pineland, Florida. From there, we climbed onto a boat for a twenty minute ride to North Captiva Island. It’s an amazing place, different in so many aspects from anywhere I’ve ever been. There are no cars, but there are phones and lights. And thankfully, air-conditioning as it is very hot and humid.

For the last two days, I’ve spent most of my time lying on the beach cooking in the hot sun, reading, and listening to my iPod. The water is flat and calm here. The shore is covered with seashells. There are sea otter, dolphin, and some really large tortoise. And the only place to buy anything has $4 cans of Pringles, $40 pies, beer, and not much else.

I haven’t had much time for photography. At dusk both nights, I’ve snapped a few photos of the sea oats and setting sun. A tripod, the right combination of clouds and sunset, and a graduated neutral density filter can do wonders for slamdunk brilliant colors. Unfortunately, my attempt at capturing lightning last night during the apparently obligatory thunderstorm didn’t work out so well. Chances are, I will get another opportunity.

For some reason, I’ve been struggling to concentrate on reading today. Smeared in sunscreen lying next to the Gulf of Mexico is a great place for thinking deep thoughts. That can be a good thing or a bad thing. I found myself listening to a lot of blues and dissecting some intricate stuff like the Dave Matthews Band that I can only wish I could play. Dave Matthew’s music is oddly timed, intricate, and sometimes difficult to understand. Fitting music, I suppose.

There’s an island nearby called Cabbage Key. A restaurant there claims to be the source of Jimmy Buffet’s Cheeseburger in Paradise. True Parrotheads and even people like me with Google know that the idea for Buffet’s song about “lettuce, tomato, Heinz 57, and French Fried potatos” was birthed in the Tortolas, not southwest Florida. Nonetheless, it reminds me of my favorite Buffet song, A Pirate Looks at Forty. Considering I have a month and a half until I reach the big “four-oh”, it’s hard to image that there’s ever been a better written song about introspection, mistakes and “what if”.

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since I swam in the Gulf of Mexico. So much has changed. And so much is still the same. There’s another afternoon storm blowing in from across the Everglades. I think I’ll go make a margarita and watch it come across the island while I listen to Jimmy Buffet's simple but oh so accurate words.