The real thing

Since yesterday sort of drifted by in a wallowing of sleep, reading, a bit of garden puttering and more sleep, I'm considering today to be the real start of my New Year. Yesterday seemed fine for it to be blustery and chilly, but I would happily do without it today. Excuse me, Mr. Weather, but have you forgotten it's all about ME??? I'd like sunshine today, please and thank you! (Note: it is now lashing rain, seconds after I came in from a yard walkabout, maybe I'd just better hush now about the weather...)

When I was up in Maine last summer, the tides were pretty important as to when heading down to the river was a good or a better idea. Tides are big there and dramatically change the landscape. Growing up in Florida, where people say, 'there aren't tides' and living here where people say 'there aren't tides' I have to say, I disagree. No, they aren't like the tides of the Northeast or the Northwest, but they ARE tides and that's what today's post is for.

I have an attitude and huge fondness about and for tides, and I'm here to tell you, there certainly ARE tides in Florida and the islands, just like there are seasonal changes. One just has to observe, only a little more closely, to capture and enjoy differences in tide and times; to see, really see, the wonders. While the notion of anything being subtle seems long out of fashion, with our big screen televisions, jumbo everything, and instant communications making sure you don't miss a thing, I would, quite confidently, say that a lot that is going on in our world(s) is being missed, all of the time, because it is not shouting or blaring or whipping into our face and mind.

Oops, detour onto Diatribe Road! Really, all I wanted to offer was this tide table, the same model I used in Maine; easy to understand (even if it doesn't tell when the fish are hungry!). A foot of tide might not seem like much (in my own water-edged yard, I'd swear it's more like three feet, easy), but it is. Take away a foot of your height, or add a foot to it. There you go. 

Why might you need to know this? Well, just the other day, while dumping CWIM's rather stale cat food off the dock (the fish like it and I like them), I somehow managed to throw the bowl in as well. There it sat, one of my favorite Chinese bowls (yes, that I use for the friggin' cat, don't even ask), while I waited for low tide...finally - two days later - I got the timing right and easily retrieved it after some very ridiculous attempts. Well. That might not be the best example...

It is updated daily, but you can play with it forward and back as well.

The sun has come out again (shhhhhh) for now. Perfect for yard detailing, a little grey, a little damp, a little sun. Thank you, Mother N, I'll not be naughty again weather whining...for awhile.