The Ocean....

My love for the ocean dates way back....way way back.  

Me..at age 5 on the beach

As a child I often spent vacations playing in the sand, sea, and surf.  One year we spent 6 weeks enjoying the beautiful seaside...lazy days listening to the waves crash and sea gulls play. 

My sister and I chasing seagulls  - ages 5 and 3

I was blessed to have family that took me shelling - sometimes in the wee hours of the morning just as the sun was starting to rise - and taught me about all the treasures the ocean holds.


My grandma...shelling on Sanibel Island circa 1981

 I was a girl that was introduced to and fell in love with Jimmy Buffett before Jimmy Buffett was even popular...I loved listening to him and his songs about the sea at the ripe ol' age of 5.  Back then Buffett would just sit on the beach and play while people rode up on their surfboards and listened.  I would give anything to see him play like that now...

I have such fond memories of my dad and uncle fishing in the Florida keys.  They would catch sharks, huge crabs, and enormous stingray.  The would return from their trips tanned with amazing stories that they would sit around and share...and then there would be a feast....

My family enjoying a freshly caught seafood feast...circa 1981

To this day I have such a deep love for the sea...for all that it holds...the memories...but most importantly for the way it seems to restore my heart and soul.  It may sound crazy, but spending time at the beach seems to center me. 

It's important to me that my children have a chance to experience the magic of the ocean too...

Eva and Jaden shelling...in the wee hours of the morning.

I love to watch my children as they romp and play...as they learn and touch...as they start to understand how amazing the sea and all that it has to offer really is....



Stingray...just feet from us on the beach.

 I want them to be able to experience the ocean breeze in their hair and the taste of saltwater in their mouths.  I want them to understand that although the ocean is beautiful, it holds amazing strength and power...and one must always respect it.

Matt and Jaden letting the waves crash against them

 I want them to understand that part of respecting the ocean is to always take care of it...and never letting our waste hurt it or the amazing creatures in it...

I want Eva and Jaden to have a chance to see, touch, hold, and observe the amazing creatures that call the ocean home.  I want them to understand that their existence is reliant on our actions...we must care for the ocean so that they may live.

Sea horse...just a baby one. 



Starfish...found during our early morning walk on the beach.

 I want Eva and Jaden to one day be able to stand on the waters edge and feel the kind of soul restoration that only something as vast, mysterious, powerful, and beautiful as the ocean can provide. 

"Mother mother ocean...I have heard you call.

Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall...

You've seen it all...you've seen it all."

--A Pirate Looks at Forty

Jimmy Buffett