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For me, Thanksgiving didn’t really feel like a holiday. I mean, every day kind of feels like a holiday since I’m not working. The only thing that actually made it feel like a holiday was the influx of families with children. Since early November, there have been few kids here. Most of the folks have been our age or older. The proverbial Snowbirds who flock south in the winter months, chasing warmer weather.

Some neighboring RV peeps were talking about a group gathering, but Mike doesn’t like peopling, so I politely declined. We still had to eat, though, so I drove over to Bayou La Batre on Wednesday (the seafood capitol of Alabama AND home of the fictional Bubba of Bubba Gump Shrimp) for some provisions. That’s when I saw this mob of  oyster fishermen near the boat launch just north of Dauphin Island. They were all getting ready for their holidays, too.

I not only managed to get the groceries I needed and some Asian food for a carry-out lunch, I also went to Dollar Tree and picked up some supplies to make Christmas decorations. (The actual crafting of those decorations may not happen until we get to our next stop.)

Since our time on the island is drawing to a close, I’ve been making more of an effort to watch the sunset ever day. There have been some good ones lately. On Thanksgiving Eve, I drove down toward the west end of the island for a different sunset view. That’s where these pics were captured.

 

 

Thursday ended up being a picture-perfect weather day. I baked an Apple Crumb Pie and then sat outside stitching for a couple of hours. By early afternoon, I was getting antsy and decided to go for a walk.

Initially, I headed for the beach. But, at the last minute, I decided to detour through the Audubon Sanctuary that’s adjacent to the campground. I’m so glad I did. I had the place almost entirely to myself and it was such a beautiful day. Being able to be there was such a gift.

 

The place really is a sanctuary. It is so peaceful and the late-afternoon Autumn light was just lovely.

The only other people I saw was a group of three Europeans who were at the little boardwalk overlook, and they were talking very little. When they did talk, they spoke quietly.

The air was very still, which made for a mirror-like reflection on Alligator Lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner — homemade chicken pot pie and Instant Pot stuffing — may not have been pretty, but it was tasty.

I don’t  remember what we did on Friday. One of the hazards of not working is that all of the days kind of blend together.

I do remember the sunset. It was another pretty one.

 

 

 

Saturday was a bit cold and dreary so we didn’t do a whole lot. Mike had to do some work on the AquaHot water heater (there always seems to be something going wrong in or on the RV, and not just ours). Luckily, he got it working again.

Even the sunset on Saturday was “meh”, matching the tone of the day.

 

Late Saturday night, it started raining. And it kept raining well into Sunday. I was bummed because I’d planned a kayak trip to test out a hard-body sea kayak owned by a neighboring RVer. It would have been good to compare how my inflatable performs in comparison to a hard-body one. Everything I’ve read and heard say the hard ones track through the water better.  Inflatables are lighter and sit higher, so they tend to be more impacted by the wind. Not that it really matters; we have no way to transport a hard-body kayak.

I didn’t want to be confined in the camper all day, so I set out on a mini road trip. I’d been wanting to visit Daphne, Alabama, on the Eastern Shore. The town has a Gator Boardwalk where you can view alligators.

As it turns out, cool, cloudy days are not good for seeing alligators. Oh well. It was still good to get out and see some new scenery.

From Daphne, I headed south down the Eastern Shore toward Gulf Shores and Fort Morgan where I caught the Mobile Bay Ferry back to Dauphin Island. I stopped at the Publix in Gulf Shores for dinner supplies (Publix makes great deli subs) and a few groceries.

The pics that follow were all captured from the deck of the ferry.

 

One of the reasons I chose to take the ferry to get back home was the timing of the trip. The boat I took left Fort Morgan at 4:15 and headed east to Dauphin Island. That meant I got to enjoy not only a boat ride, but also the sunset from the boat’s deck. Win-win! (I never say no to a boat ride.)

The pics that follow were all captured from the deck of the ferry. The pics are nice, but pictures never do full justice to the in-person sunset experience.

Also, though I didn’t get pics, I did see two different pods of dolphins during the crossing. It truly felt magical seeing them in that amazing light.

 

 

 

 

 

I meant to get this posted yesterday (Monday), but got distracted. Today is my last chance for a Dauphin Island sunset. Here’s hoping the weather holds today. And that I make it back from my Mobile Costco run.

Yesterday, it was so chilly here that I actually had to wear a light jacket for my afternoon walk. It was still warm enough for flip-flops, though, so I guess I can’t complain too much. Not that I am really complaining. It was still visually beautiful AND I actually like having a bit of chill in the air. Unless I’m planning on swimming, that is.

I took my camera along and snapped some photos to share with y’all. It’s more fun to show you that it’s starting to look like Fall here, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sun sets just before 5:00 these days, which means I can enjoy a leisurely, unhurried sunset and still have plenty of time to stroll home in time to cook dinner.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed the images from my afternoon stroll. I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to enjoy camping and exploring on this lovely island — Dauphin Island — at the mouth of Mobile Bay in Alabama.

It was a beautiful day in southern Alabama today. I think temps were in the mid-70s when Mike went out to do something to the car. That something required putting the top down. When the neighbor suggested we should go for a ride, Mike actually said, “You’re right!” He then came inside and asked if Belle and I wanted to go for a ride.

You don’t often have to ask me twice, especially if I get to see new stuff. That’s how we ended up eating linner (late lunch/early dinner) in Fairhope on Alabama’s Eastern Shore. I’d read that Fairhope was a nice place to visit and an even nicer place to live. It actually sits on a bluff overlooking Mobile Bay and was hilly.

The biggest hill we’ve seen for awhile is the bridge going from Dauphin Island to the mainland. I’d been meaning to get a picture of that and was happy I could do so today.

We had no idea it was supposed to rain, and were happy to see we’d be on the eastern side of the storms for a good while.

We headed north toward Mobile then east across the delta at the top of the bay and south down the Eastern Shore to Fairhope.

As native Marylanders, it’s really weird to hear an area in Alabama referred to as the Eastern Shore. In Maryland, the state is sorta split in half by the Chesapeake Bay, so it makes sense to have an Eastern Shore. Only a tiny little piece of Alabama, the foot, is split by Mobile Bay into “shores.” Most of the state of Alabama lies to the north, and there’s quite a bit of Alabama to the east of the Eastern Shore, too. Anyhoo…

We ate at a place called the Dragonfly Foodbar in downtown Fairhope. We needed a place with outdoor seating to accommodate Belle, with good food and beer for us. I found the place on Yelp! as Hubby drove. It was described as Mexican Asian fusion. We each had a firecracker shrimp taco (spicy breaded fried shrimp and cabbage). Hubby also had a duck taco and fish of the day taco (Gulf Porgy). I also had a Wagyu beef slider and a fried oyster taco. The oyster one was my favorite. Mike drank a white ale from Iceland and I had a Southern Pecan nut brown ale. Both were delicious.

After dinner, we stopped at the bayside town park for a few pics before heading home. We did hit a bit of rain on the way back, but it wasn’t too bad. We even got to see a double rainbow and lovely sunset.

 

 

 

The shot of the pelican was my favorite capture from the park in Fairhope. I love this next pic, too.

Our pretty little girl is really getting old. She is 14.5 now. She doesn’t like to walk much anymore, so car rides are about as exciting as things get for her. She doesn’t like being left home alone, so we almost always take her with us if we are going to be gone for very long. She really enjoys rides with the top down, which we did on the way to Fairhope.

Going off-island together was a nice change of pace. It’s hard to believe we’ve only got a couple of weeks left here. We’ve been so busy enjoying the leisurely island life that we haven’t explored a whole lot in the area.

We have been to Bayou La Batre and the Mobile suburbs a few times (that’s what we call civilization). And one day for something to do I drove Belle to Biloxi so she could say she’s been to Mississippi, state #16 for our elderly pup. 😊

I guess I’m going to have to sort through some pics and bring y’all up to speed on our adventures, including not one, but two visits with some blogger friends y’all will recognize. Maybe tomorrow…

Yesterday was one of those weird days that just felt generally heavy. A day where an ugly atmosphere of moodiness prevailed for no good reason. All morning, it felt almost like I couldn’t fill my lungs completely. There was an unseen, mysterious pressure squeezing down on me, closing in. Not a physical pressure. It felt more like a brooding anger or overwhelming sense of unhappiness. Not an entirely new feeling, it was one that made me want to tiptoe around like a quiet little mouse, not speaking, or moving, or acting in any way that could, potentially, cause further disturbance or disruption in an already unpleasant, unstable environment.

It was the kind of day that, in the past, would have sent me spiraling down into darkness, wondering what I did wrong, where I screwed up, how I could do better, be better. These days, I know different. These days, instead of doing anything and everything I could think of to make that darkness go away, or at least ease the burden of it by taking steps to lighten the mood, I try to separate myself from it mentally. I refuse to accept the ugliness. I try hard to say no to the instability that is not mine to own, and I move on with my own day.

It is never easy. And I know it could always be harder.

Yesterday, I did not react. Instead, I let the heaviness sort itself out. Rather than dwelling on it, trying to understand and make sense of the why of it all, I went to the beach. I smelled the scent of pine in the air as walked down the beach path. I bathed in the warmth of the sun, absorbed the visual beauty of my environment, listened to music that spoke to my soul. The end result being that I got to enjoy long, luxurious moments of peace. A whole afternoon all by myself.

The Universe still tried to fuck with me—there was a large, dead bird on the beach—but I didn’t let it. Instead, I sat still in the sunshine listening to my music. And to the waves. Absorbing as many positive vibes as I could.

I was in my own little world until an elderly gentleman came into my field of vision, speaking words I couldn’t hear because of my earphones. I stopped the music, reflexively chit-chatted just a little bit, expertly deflecting his attempts at conversation. Soon, he tired of trying and moseyed on his way.

As I watched him go, I realized what I’d done. For weeks, I’d been aware that I’ve been missing conversation. Feeling very lonely with no one around who wanted to talk to me. Why, then, had I deflected that guy who may also feel lonely, like me?

Watching him amble farther and farther away from me, I couldn’t help but think of my father. He’d been lonely, too, but was afraid or too proud to admit it. Fearing, I assume, that doing so might make him appear weak.

At that moment, I remembered the Werther’s hard caramels I’d thrown into my bag before escaping the camper for the beach. I’d gotten Dad hooked on those candies at some point over the past couple years. I’d bought him a bag, on a whim, while also buying a get well card to present during my visit with him in the hospital. He loved having those candies at hand in his room and would often offer one to the nurses, doctors, and various other folks who were in and out of his room, day and night.

I grabbed a couple of the hard candies and hurried after the guy. When I caught up with him, I said hello. I told him that I’d seen him earlier on the beach, and that something told me to catch up with him and give him a hard candy. He chuckled. At first, he declined, but gave in after I persisted.

We stood there, near the driftwood tree, chit chatting for a bit. About anything and nothing. He’d accepted the candy reluctantly, putting it into his shirt pocket, which is exactly what my Dad would have done. At some point, as we spoke, he put the candy into his mouth. While I talked, he held the candy between his teeth, smiled, and pointed at his mouth to make sure I saw him eating it. My father would have made a very similar gesture.

Just then, I saw a fox trotting up the beach toward us. After I’d pointed the fox out to the guy, he laughed and said, “Wheee!”

The sun was starting to set so I asked him if he was walking back toward where I’d been sitting. I could tell he struggled to hear and/or understand me, but didn’t want to admit it. He thought I wanted to say goodbye, so he put out his hand and introduced himself as Mel. I shook his hand, introduced myself, and explained that I didn’t mean to say goodbye. “I enjoy chatting with you,” I said, “and was hoping we could walk back down the beach together.”

As it turns out, he lives on the island and likes walking on the beach some evenings. He’s from Jersey, but moved to Dauphin Island because it’s such a nice place to live and so much cheaper than New Jersey, not to mention warmer.

I asked him if he ever got lonely. “Oh, not really,” he said. He volunteers once a week at the Estuarium (think  aquarium). He’s got a sister and/or a great-niece in nearby Mobile. But he’s also excited and looking forward to a companion from Jersey who is moving to Mobile in a couple of weeks. He said he likes music, too. He doesn’t watch much TV because there’s never really anything good on. When he’s tired of TV, he listens to music. He likes lots of different kinds of music. And often, he likes to listen to his music and dance. “That always feels good,” he said. “Just dancing.”

We chattted some more as we walked. When we reached my chair, he held out his hand again and introduced himself as Murray. I shook his hand, told him my name again, and asked, “Murray? Earlier you said your name was Mel.”

“Mel, Murray,” he laughed, with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I go by both.”

“Well, it was nice meeting you, Murray,” I said, then watched as he shuffled away.

I settled back into my chair, thankful that I’d made the effort to meet Mel/Murray, who I’ll forever remember as the elderly guy from Jersey who liked to listen to music and dance to pass the time.

My day ended on a much lighter note.