Look--There's a Dolphin!

The weekend on the island went well. Low-key, but well. And before you get your hopes up from the title, I do not have a picture of a dolphin to share with you. Sorry:-/

BUT, we did see a dolphin. In the wild. So, so, so cool. On Saturday we had packed up food, a camp-stove, & kick-balls and drove south for a cook-out. Village Park snuggles between the lighthouse, a rocky seawall, and a series of piers. The water between the rocks & the piers is apparently a favorite hangout spot for dolphins. Karl & Jen picked out a picnic table that had a great view of the ocean. The kids climbed and bounced in the giant live oak branches that shaded the entire picnic area. And I took pictures (of course).

We never did manage to get all the kids sitting and eating at the same time. But the food was ready in shifts anyway, so it didn't matter. We knew the cousins had seen schools of dolphins from this very spot, so Megan kept one eye on her lunch and one eye on the ocean while she ate her hamburger. It was also quite windy, so we all ate with one hand and hung onto our plates with the other. And then Kurt says, "Look--there's a dolphin!" We all turned to look, but didn't see anything. When we turned back to the table, Kurt was chewing some of Megan's Sun Chips that he'd stolen from her plate. Dangerous joke to play on a 12 year old;-)

A little later we really did see a dolphin. It swam around in circles, surfacing frequently, for a good 10 minutes before going back out to sea. Megan and Anna watched nearly the whole time. I had enough time to call Ian out of the tree to see, but he was less impressed. I didn't bother taking any pictures because it was too unpredictable where the dolphin would surface next. That and I just wanted to enjoy the moment with my eyes instead of a view-screen.

That evening back at the house, Aunt Jen made popcorn. Lots of popcorn with a real popper instead of the microwave. All the kids enjoyed large bowls of the crunchy treat. Tim (the youngest) was eating without hands--face in the bowl. Kurt and I didn't fancy stealing any of his popcorn. But then Sarah came wandering by with her bowl. I said, "Look--there's a dolphin!" Sarah wasn't fooled, though. She just giggled and turned her body & bowl away so none of the grownups could steal her snack. Smarty.

Cheers,
Jessi

Quotes of the Day
while dolphin-watching

Megan: Seeing a wild dolphin is in my wish-poem! I can't wait to tell my teacher. Oh wait, do I have to rewrite it now?

Ian: [shrugs his shoulders] I've seen one before--when Grampa brought me here. Can I go play on the slide?

 

How to Start a Conversation: Georgia-Style

I should have been a cultural anthropologist. I constantly find myself dissecting the rhythms of local speech and analyzing cultural behavior every time I travel. Yesterday's experiences at the beach, at the marina, at the school Karl administrates, etc. seemed so disparate that I wouldn't be able to post today. But then the common thread hit me--an epiphany while I was steeping my tea looking out over the low-tide marsh with egrets skimming the surface in search breakfast: CONVERSATION.

In case you ever plan to visit Georgia alone--without the benefit of a large family bubble to satisfy your social needs--I've listed below ten sure-fire ways to spark up conversation with local strangers. These tips cover experiences from our entire week (both lacking in & abounding with stranger-conversation). If any particular tip strikes your fancy, drop me an email and I'll tell you the whole story. WARNING: do not follow these steps if you are under the age of 18 or have a pre-existing medical condition;-)

1. Skip the line with the teenage grocery clerk. Go for the 50ish clerk instead.


2. Go to a museum and stand by yourself waiting for the educational movie to start.


3. Buy an armful of small items at that museum's gift shop, then pay with a credit card.


4. Pretend you can't get the automatic sink to turn off in a public loo.


5. Order take-out for ten at a sit-down restaurant, then carry the food to your car by yourself...in one trip.


6. Make eye contact with everyone with a smile & nod.


7. Accept the offer of "more sweet-tea?" even though you've got Diet Coke in your glass.


8. Wear a family-reunion-style t-shirt (with your name on it), then wander around looking lost.


9. Ask for soda-pop at someone else's cook-out--especially while wearing your reunion t-shirt.


10. Wear a Boston Red Sox baseball cap with an "I [heart] New York" t-shirt.

Cheers,
Jessi

Quotes of the Day:

Sorry to disappoint, but Megan and Kurt were mild-mannered yesterday. And Ian's quote is best seen rather than heard. We'll embed it if we can get YouTube to work. But both kids protested & both parents celebrated when I read the following quotes from the 1701 publication entitled "The School of Manners: Rules for Childrens Behaviour" that I picked up at the Fort Frederica:

Approach near thy Parents at no time without a Bow.

OH, and this one:

Ask not for any thing, but tarry till it be offered thee.

You can imagine the reactions;-)