This morning we took a walk on the newly re-opened St. Augustine Beach. In the current coronavirus-challenged times, we know “typical” beach scenes like we enjoyed today are NOT typical everywhere and can be viewed thru very different lenses by different folks. We have friends, family, and neighbors experiencing differing degrees of risk, fear, hope, and uncertainty regarding actions and activities that used to be easy and mundane.

Those of you who know us well know we are the glass half-full type. For us, the positives of going to the beach today greatly outweighed the negatives (all things considered). We view our steps back towards “normal” life as joyful, hopeful, and healthy, all tempered with good common sense. That being said, we hope you enjoy these pictures.

It was a beautiful day, and we were gratified to see the number of people enjoying the mental health benefits of running, biking, swimming, surfing, dog-walking and playing with children. Each group easily maintained proper and polite separation from others.

Here you can see people partaking of sun, sand, and surf and can get an idea of beachgoer density. We walked a total of six miles, and this picture was very representative of the vista. We don’t have any fisherfolk in this view, but they were there, as well as osprey, egrets, willets, terns, and plovers! Interestingly, most birds allowed us to walk much closer than is usual before sidling or flying off. I guess during the beach closure they forgot about their past ordeals of being chased by small boys.

The happiness prize had to be awarded to the intensely ecstatic doggies, who clearly thought this was the BEST DAY EVER! Every breed seemed to be represented, from diminutive chihuahuas & poodly fuzzballs, thru the labs and the beagles, the mutts and the cross-breeds, all the way up to two statuesque great Danes. It was a doggy joy fest. Cars all over St. Augustine are likely on their way home full of wet sand and dog hair. In fact, the animal shelter in nearby Palm Coast reports all their dogs have been adopted. All that are left for adoption are a pig, two cats, and two horses. Any takers?

The tide was receding, so the beach grew in size as morning progressed. The surf was mild, but the relaxing rhythm of the small waves washing ashore was still as good as ever.

At the end of our exercise, the busy take-out staff at The Beachcomber restaurant helped us assuage our calorie deficit with blackened mahi mahi sandwiches, green beans and fries.