Jeremiah the Dolphin

Good morning!  Today was a relaxing "beach day" that featured a few walks along the shore, along with some "inspections" of the various turtle nests along the way.  

Late in the afternoon, there was a significant storm coming up from the south that cleared the beaches.  It had an look of menace about it, but we were on a sheltered balcony viewing the whole matter, only affected by the occasional sprinkle of cool rain.  The only ones brave enough to be out there during the downpour were the diving team of pelicans, a precision team, each member finding just the right altitude before plunging downward into the sea for hopefully a free fish dinner.  

After the storm cleared, we saw another pod of dolphins as well.  We were walking along the beach, but we brought our frisbee along for a game of catch.  It was somewhat of a timely thing - we had packed it a few days ago.  Late this morning and afternoon, we had watched the livestream online from our church of the funeral of a Hall County police officer.  It was a stirring tribute, and a wonderful show of support from our community.  We watched nearly the entire thing, from the funeral service itself at our church to the process to the graveside service.  It was very moving.  During one moment, a friend of the officer mentioned them being part of an ultimate frisbee team.  We were out throwing the frisbee about an hour later, perhaps in honor of our fallen officer.  But beyond that, our thoughts were very  much directed northward at this senseless tragedy.

Changing the subject, today was a day of decision for Madison, who finally named her new pet dolphin.

His name is Jeremiah!  This dolphin came from the Marineland gift shop yesterday, purchased with birthday money from across the pond.  Madison has been with this dolphin day and night ever since.  The name is from a friend I believe, and a certain frog named Jeremiah, and also our friend Calvin mentioning a frog in his throat.

We did some swimming this afternoon, this time in the outdoor pool.  It was warm enough, although the water seemed a bit on the cool side to Madison.  She's got to improve her swimming skills, so we may be working on that just a bit.  She's decent, but she can afford to be a bit more proficient, as you just never know when a skill like that will be useful.  There are plenty of incidents on the lake, not that she's going out there any time soon.  But things can happen, and being able to swim effectively is a pretty useful skill.

We played dominoes tonight, this after another walk northward on the beach.  There are more turtle nests in that direction.  Madison was watching Jeopardy with the grandparents, and after that Wheel of Fortune, as is their tradition here.  The beaches have been crowded down towards the Daytona Beach area, but not so much here.  It's been nice.  Warm, but nice.

We read tonight and did a few other things:  writing devotionals, playing Stardew Valley, and just generally catching up on things back home.  There was not much going on, at least here.  But that's okay.