June 20, 2012

A Sense of Discovery

Living on the Gulf Coast of Florida, as I had mentioned in prior posts, has many advantages. The abundance of water and water activities is amazing. As often as possible, and more so during the summer, I pack up the towels, beach toys, drinks and snacks, chairs, umbrella and sunscreen, taking advantage of another beautiful day on the beach. We swim and build sand forts, being not very good at sculpting sand, and holes at the edge of the surf to sit in and let the larger waves fill on occasion.

The beach is full of small living organisms, too numerous to list and I’ve only a remedial knowledge of them. My seven-year-old has taken to digging in the sand in search of sand fleas. These little creatures the size of a pinky-nail, reside in the surf about an inch or two into the sand and are not harmful (as opposed to the Caribbean type). He captures as many as his attention span can last and puts them in a small bucket to watch them scurry around in search of cover. Then, a few coquinas are added to watch them stick out their tongue, foraging for whatever is in the water. The beachside aquarium is complete.

We live on the intercoastal and fish almost daily. Some days we catch a fish or two, but most days we just enjoy being outside, even when it’s hot. Recently, I’ve been throwing a 10’ cast net to catch live bait, such as pin fish and sardines. Each throw brings something up from the sea. My focus is on the small fish, however, my son loves to examine everything that comes with each throw. He sends the cone jellies back into the water and helps putting the fish caught into our bait bucket. When the net is cleaned up and readied for another throw, he takes the oyster shells and opens them to see what is inside. These are not living oysters, but shells that are stuck together, requiring little strength to pull apart and providing habitat for other estuary creatures. Inside one of these clusters of shells, he has found several brine shrimp. Recently, he found a small octopus, only two inches big, tucked inside one of these clusters.

Having days spent with my children reminds me about the world and how much there is to discover. We, as parents, tend to focus on our jobs, our families and our futures, neglecting that small child in all of us, wanting to discover something new and exciting, neglecting our sense of wondering what’s inside those shells. There are personal health benefits from trying something new and discovering the world around us. I think the biggest benefit is that we open ourselves up to new things, people and places (This article explains it much better). Another benefit is that we have the same sense of wonder of the world around us, just like our children, which means we can relate to their experiences and possibly look for more, new and exciting adventures.