Jill and I kayaked to the four-winds marina. We were going to the store to see if they had toothbrushes. I dropped Jill’s toothbrush on the floor and she wanted a new one. I needed a new one too. In the creek outside the marina we saw a piece of lumber bobbing in the water. We grabbed it and decided to put it up on the seawall so no one would hit it. It was a ruin-your-prop 2×6. Jill hung on to it while I paddled us to the sea wall. Getting a long water-logged board that is covered in barnacles and oysters out of the water from a kayak is not easy and it ruined a bit of my day. I managed to cut my hand getting it onto the seawall. As blood started running down my arm I resisted the urge to wash my hand off in the saltwater. Salty pain and infection probably won’t help my day. Jill paddled us over to the slip. I climbed out and walked to the restroom. Rinsing off my arm I saw the damage wasn’t terrible. I could move my fingers but I did have an inch long cut near my index finger. I saw the blood wasn’t gushing and grabbed a wad of paper towels as direct pressure. We walked into the ship’s store, me with my hand raised, and of course they don’t have toothbrushes.
We jumped back in the kayak and I steered with the foot pedals. Jill paddled and gave us guided tour back to the house. She told me that know one knows the reason that Mullet jump and if we go near that bird it will poop on us. Returning to the house I again jumped out and tended to my hand. When Jill caught up to me I gave her a pair of tweezers. I instructed her to pull out a small piece of shell still embedded in my hand. We found a wrap in a drawer and used it in conjunction with with some TP for a bandage. I stuck a flashlight under the wrap to provide a little more pressure on the cut. Jill got her toothbrush at CVS and I got some superglue bandaid stuff. I am able to type and seem to have stabilized. Hopefully this will be but a memory in Cancun. We have 6 days to heal.
We went and saw the solar eclipse sunset at the Bokeelia Pier. We weren’t able to get on film very well. Here is one I took. The eclipse was coming in from the right.
Martin! I love your stories. Thank you.