A moment in the sun

Connie hasn't really been out since September 2010.  She has been to the hospital, rehab, a nursing facility, doctor's offices, and to lunch a couple of times, but she hasn't just been out of the house for fun.  Today we had her appointment with the Foot God.  As I drove to her condo to collect her for her visit with him, I decided that I would take her out to this new park that had been built on a vacant lot down by the water.  She would be outdoors in the sun and near her beloved salt water.

Connie:  "Take me to the beach"
Me:  "Uh, how do I get you down to the beach?"
Connie:  (whining) "I don't know."

I took her to the park instead.  We parked in the lot and then had to use the sidewalk along side the road instead of the shelled trail into the park.  Connie was worried the shells would puncture her wheelchair tires and I was worried I would be exhausted pushing her as the trail wound around and around.  Once we got into the park it was a nice hike down the boardwalk pier.

There was one lone, young fisherman on the pier who pretended we didn't exist.  He was fishing with only a lure in the shape of a fish with no bait.  As he cast off and stood on one side of the pier, fish were jumping out of the water behind him on the other side.  Every time he moved and cast off a fish would jump behind him or where he had just been.  He wasn't exactly a master fisherman.  Connie and I did not offer helpful suggestions.

It was a beautiful day, but quite sunny and hot.  Connie had misplaced her sunglasses and we didn't think about lathering up with sunscreen beforehand.  We sat at the end and chatted and enjoyed the warm breeze and the views.  A gray heron (at least that is what we thought he was) appeared in hopes of scoring some fish from the fisherman and I attempted some amateur animal photography.

We spent about a half an hour on the pier enjoying the sun before we started our hike back to the car.  On the way we passed a serious fishing group heading down the pier with rods and reels, buckets, nets and an ice chest.  They were very nice and spoke to us.  Some hikers also were heading down to enjoy the view.  We exchanged pleasantries and loaded up in the car to head back to Connie's hideaway and the trip back up the stairs.