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DIRECTIONS DID NOT HELP MUCH
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Lost is my favorite TV drama show of all time
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=lost+tv+series
and my fav reality show is Survivor
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=survivor+44
I might possibly have been inhabiting both series on my odyssey on Pepper Park Beach, North Hutchinson's Island Fl on Friday March 3, 2023.
here is the link most of what they talk about was unseen or invisible to me on that day
https://www.stlucieco.gov/things-to-do/recreation/beaches/pepper-park-beachside
and will preface my story by telling you that I come from a beach addicted family. Both sides. My parents even had a verb used for our beach visits. Beaching, My dad would say"lets go beaching". Rockaway, New Jersey, and Florida were our places.. My father would walk the beach until he disappeared on the horizon. My mother and I did the water,
so what happened to me is sort of incomprehensible
Friday March 3, 2023
and I set out walking solo. My friend and I do that., I took my phone and a zip lock bag expecting to stuff it with shells.from this beach of shells, After about 10 minutes I realized this beach had no shells.
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NO WORTHY SHELLS
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It had unusual rocks, I switched my mission to rocks. I had set my goal to walk to the white house at the end of the island, except it kept getting farther away, Into the second hour I knew I was in trouble The people I had passed on the way were returning. I turned around into a ferocious wind, so strong that I could barely go forward, with a haft mile more
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A GORGEOUS BEACH WITH NO SHELLS
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I was
dehydrated
Burnt
sand
in my teeth
Ears (hearing aids)
hair
Feet cramps and calf twitches that made me sway and look unsteady
My iPhone had gotten wet from a tsunami that attacked me and was inoperable for a bit
I had applied sunscreen but the wind and sand blew it off and my white sweater billowed up around my head so as to expose all unsunscreened parts to the elements. It kinda looked like a sail.
I was carrying the rock bag which was now quite heavy
I pulled muscles in both arms switching the rock bag back and forth
My beach mate's phone was in security lock down and her Apple Watch had no juice
Could not ask her for help
The entire walk was all white condos for 8 miles
I could not distinguish one from another
No landmark stood out
Why would they? We had never been here... those who I had passed going had left... the wind was that punishing...even the veteran beach goers had given up
it was me and the gulls
yep I stopped .and talked to them
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MY FRIENDS
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Finally I reached the other end of the island and knew I had to get to the street and ask for help
I must have walked by my friend
the belongings we had were flat, borrowed, unfamiliar... so easily missed, My friend was also walking, so no upright human to spot.
I sat down to rest and got bitten by sand fleas
I reached the jetty at the island’s other end and knew we had not come this far
THINKING OF MY MAMA
we had not crossed this inlet. or seen fishing folks
I texted my friend for help ...my phone had dried out
with the last juice of her phone she answered with landmarks. Oh and I did have a mobile charger in my bag she could have used but I was too delirious to recall that
She gave me the building landmarks
I wobbled along with excruciating leg and feet cramps
I was barefoot and wearing a light white sweater which kept blowing up in my face due to the fierce wind
I still recorded my travels with photos (see above)
in case I expired on the beach there would be a record of my travails
And in those conditions
now 3 and 1/2 hours of walking
barefoot
Wind battered
cut up by sharp glassy sand
the wind was so strong I could not move forward
had to stop and walk sideways
no ID
no money
but I had my rocks
Near what I thought was the end
I thought of others and their suffering
Kiev
And
the Holocaust
(yes, I went there)
and Jeff Probst and his famous Survivor line "call the medics"
and my 15 1/2 old dog Liam waiting at home
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| LIAM AT HOME | | |
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these thoughts are what kept me going the last 2 miles which I did not know were the last two miles
Now in the fourth hour
I stumbled
got up
refused to give up my rocks
My cramped feet like curled claws
legs muscles throbbing and spastic
muscles in both arms were seizing and screaming
THEN
I saw my white shirted friend waving by the shore a short distance away
I was never so glad to see someone
Ever
ironic we both were wearing white, the universal symbol of surrender
Turns out I had walked nearly 8 miles and attained almost 19000 steps according to my Fitbit
back at home, Jim S, the host, had attained 1751 by walking to the porch and back
if you look at the stats it stands out that my sleep the night before almost equaled my walk,
I slept 4 hours 51 minutes and walked almost the same
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MY FITBIT TELLS THE STORY
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Oh and the rocks are coral and quite worthy of being collected
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ROCKS ARE CORAL
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and I know all the things I did wrong but feel free to weigh in...I tell stories for participation and feedback and growth
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MY BEACH COLLECTIONS FROM THE ENTIRE TRIP, FEW SHELLS FROM THIS OUTING THOUGH
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and being it was near St Patrick's day, this iconic Irish blessing swirled in my head, the first two lines
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
now that I am back in NY I have to say it was worth it. This Irish/Scottish gal got a story and got some coral, and met some gulls and lived to tell...
