Yesterday was an amazingly awesome day.  The temperature down in southwest florida is slowly dropping, and by slowly I mean one degree every 10 days.  I'll take it though!  It was 69* and dry when we woke up (the norm is 75 and humid)!  We knew we had to do something outdoorsy so we packed a lunch, some water, threw our bikes on the car, and drove up to Lover's Key State Park (about a 20 minute drive).  We love this park because of its beautiful trails and calm, pristine beaches.  Plus, there is almost never a crowd.  As we were taking off our bikes from the bike rack I spotted a bald eagle.  It was the first bald eagle I had ever seen!  It was beautiful soaring and flipping in the air.  We hopped on our bikes and headed over to a trail that we've hiked before and where we were hopping to spot some manatees.  Unfortunately, we didn't see any but we did see lots of butterflies and enjoyed the cool breeze and shade during our journey.  The one downfall to our bike ride was the fact that my bike is really a beach bike.  It's not meant to ride in the dirt or grass.  Needless to say, I had some difficulty keeping up with Mike and his Mongoose mountain bike that had gears and the correct tires for trail.  It was fun nonetheless.

After our bike ride we got on the tram that escorts you to a beach about a half a mile away from the entrance to the park.  The color of the water yesterday was exactly how I hoped it would be.  Sometimes the water can look like NJ water, but most times it looks like the caribbean.  Yesterday was one of those days!  I was so hot after our bike ride that I immediately went towards the water to start cooling myself off.  I stopped, though, after noticing the huge schools of fish swimming around.  That's still something I just can't get used to.  So instead of immersing my whole body in the water, I just splashed some on me to cool off.  When Mike joined me I pointed out all of the fish swimming around and jokingly said, "I bet a shark is going to show up to eat them!"  Wouldn't you know less than 5 minutes after I said that I spotted a dark shadow swimming around in the shallow part of the water .  I jumped out of the water real quick and started following the shadow down the beach until it got close enough for us to determine that it was, in fact, a shark!  It was about 2-3 feet...not huge, but big enough to bite you if he felt like it.  After seeing that, we didn't go back in :(  But, we did lounge in the shade/sun for about an hour which was the most relaxing thing I've done all week.

There are so many times when I think to myself, man I am lonely.  I think about moving back north to where my friends and family are.  I think about moving back to a state that will fairly compensate teachers for their hard work and dedication to their profession. And then days like yesterday happen.  Days when I inhale clean air, notice the vibrant colors of my surroundings, feel the warmth of the sun on my skin, the cool breeze through my hair, and remember why I love Florida.  There's nothing that can quite lift your spirits like nature.