False Crawl Tracks

Two turtle nests to the north of us, but nothing out front or all the way south to the lifeguard station. Did see evidence of two False Crawls on early walk this morning. A false crawl is when the turtle comes ashore but for some reason, does not dig a nest. This one turned around about half-way up to the soft sand, barely at the high-tide mark. This is known as a false crawl U-turn. The other went all the way up to the dune vegetation, roughed up the sand there, but did not dig a nest, an arduous trek, nevertheless. Maybe it was the same turtle. The tracks were less than a quarter-mile apart. Most often it is lights that make them abandon the effort.

* * *

Last Shuttle

Never been a big fan of the Space Shuttle program– I can’t help but think of the incredible, coast-to-coast high-speed rail system we could have built with that money– but they are fun to watch blast off. We went down to Cocoa a couple of times when the youngin’ was little, and watched from across the Indian River, and since moving into the little hacienda, we’ve watched from the beach deck, night launches included. So, today’s last mission was special, even for us. It was a spectacular launch, clear skies, hundreds of folks on the beach, dolphins rolling offshore, rays splashing in the shallows. The Cape is about a hundred miles south of us, but we usually have a clear view, and can watch from horizon to orbit on most occasions. The normal flight path is out over the ocean and north, so it is moving towards us as it moves out and up. We are usually able to clearly see the booster separation, and the shuttle engines take over. With binoculars you can see the booster tanks falling. Quite amazing. Used to see, I should say. No more. I think what I’ll miss most is watching the reaction of the cats when the sound rumbles through 5-7 minutes after lift-off. That was worth the whole expenditure.