The Kid on the Running Board

Monday February 28, 2011

Today is another special day. I’m driving to nearby Tomoka State Park where I will rent a canoe and go for a paddle. For years I have dreamed of warm-weather paddling, somewhere, anywhere.
When I arrive at the park gate and pay my $4 entry fee I learn that the outpost renting kayaks and canoes is closed on Mondays. Words cannot express my disappointment.
OK, I’ll check out the park anyway. At the outpost I find plastic kayaks and aluminium canoes. Big, old, heavy, dented canoes. Well, what should I expect on a rental fleet, ultra-light  kevlar Swift canoes with wooden gunnels?
Numerous white butterflies are available to photograph but I ignore them because I have lots of images of Cabbage Whites.
I drive further into the park, stop and walk around. I can hear and see dozens of robins. I shoot some resting on branches and a few feeding on berries on low bushes.
This park is on a narrow peninsula and next I walk to the riverbank. I hike along the shoreline. As I round the tip the sand beach in front of me is moving, it’s alive with something. Small crabs, I think, quickly disappearing into the sand. I chase them, trying to obtain close-up photos, but this proves unfruitful. Plan B. I sit on a large driftwood log, lower the tripod legs, change the lens from a 60-300 to a 17-55 and wait. Success comes to the patient.
During Plan B a pod of dolphins and a diving pelican were also observed and photographed.