Dodging Summer Storms!

Hubby and I found a break in our crazy schedules for a some much needed R&R and came down to our place in Ft. Myers! It also happened that we arrived when the low tides are late evening, finally we timed it right! But....remember this is Florida, afternoon thunderstorms are certainly the norm around here during the summer, and they may or may not last for the entire evening. 

The first day, Saturday I headed to Sanibel, (with storms booming all around us here in Ft. Myers) and sat in the car for over an hour waiting for them to subside.  I finally gave in and headed back home, with only a glimpse of the beach...as I crossed over the causeway bridge, I glanced back and saw that finally the clouds had parted, but I was already past the u-turn lane, so alas I headed home....in the rain, without any sand on my feet!

Today was the same story, I headed out with storms around us, 

low tide was around 7, I headed out at 5.  I waited in the parking lot until the lightning scared me away, headed to Jerry's, a local supermarket with parking underneath and stayed until it calmed down a bit, and went back to Gulfside city park in the rain. I walked out and peeked at the beach and there were storms all around, but it looked fairly safe....at least for now! It was just past low tide...

I decided to stay close and not go on my normal long walk, I just needed a little bit of beach therapy, and I could get back to the safety of the car pretty quickly!

Instantly I found the therapy I needed.....first look showed many live sand dollars burrowing in the sand....

...and I saw several live Lightning whelks.....

Love seeing these live guys!

I soon found a couple of treasures to keep.....a tiny scallop

....and a Flat Scallop, a fairly rare find....this is only my third flat in 20 years, and it's the largest!

I found a few shells, while also keeping an eye on the sky....

 ...I spotted a rainbow!!

 

.....it began to rain, so I headed back home, but decided to stop on the causeway to look for tellins for a project I hope to begin soon.....

 ....I managed to find several, luckily these guys didn't break when they were stepped on by someone in the soft mud!!

I managed to find quite a few white tellins and couple of rose tellins, and also got to watch the sunset....along with a Great Blue Heron!

Doesn't this just make you say.....Ahhhhhh!!!?  It certainly works for me!!

I only have a couple more evenings to try to catch the low tide, we'll see how I do dodging the storms! Stay Tuned!!

::Shelllady Hugs::