Hello, Strangers
The rehabilitated sea turtles were busy that morning, loping around their salt water baths as visitors stared at – or in Grandma’s case, talked to – them. We were visiting the Loggerhead Marinelife Center on our day off between games. Lazy old monsters crusted in mossy plants. And a few babies.
At the gift shop, the girls loaded up. I finally found what I wanted for Puck – the perfect huggable-sized plush manatee. I think I must have made the right choice, because when we left the building, some kid about his size walked up out of nowhere and took him right out of my arms for a hug.
Jupiter Beach Park was way more crowded than last year. The secret was out, apparently. But there was still room to stroll. Grandma and Mom sought shade near some plant life by the dune grass; Carrie-Bri joined them with a read: Darrell Porter. The rest of us combed for shells. Linnea-Irish and her pal returned with armloads of shark teeth, fish jaws, crab claws, and coral.
After lounging for awhile back at the motel, we decided dinner would be cheap – split three ways between KFC, Wendy’s, and DQ – which we polished off in the park across the street between three active little league fields. Then the girls took off to climb the huge trees that Mom calls “baobab”, swinging on the vines, monkey-style.
When we returned to the park benches where Grandma and Carrie waited, Carrie was recovering from the deep embarrassment of Grandma going into extensive detail about our baseball podcast with a former Frontier League baseball player who happened to be coaching one of his little league teams that evening. Then when I walked up, she decided to share about how I wear a “special Cardinals shirt” to church on Sundays. I set that one straight right away.
“Isn’t he good looking?” Grandma ‘whispered’ to Carrie as he walked away, after telling him where we were staying for the week. “He’s a hunk, isn’t he?”
“Well,” Carrie said a little while later, as we left the park. “I’m leaving the last shred of my dignity on a park bench in West Palm Beach. Goodbye, Dignity.”
We recovered back in the motel room while Carrie edited today’s podcast and overheard another security breach when Mom told the motel manager all about our various college degrees. We decided it was time for an intervention. Try telling that to the woman who said a few minutes later, “Well, I think at some point it’s just best to trust people.”
We discussed sliding a heavy piece of furniture in front of the door that night.
Just in case.