So many parks where I live. Yesterday I had 30 minutes to kill so I pulled into a park I have never seen before. Strickland Park ia a tiny little spot with three picnic tables and a swing set, bordering on the Banana River and oddly enough there was sand at the rivers edge just below the sea wall. I could see white caps on the river. It was a blustery windy day and the little river waves were crashing on this small strip of a beach.
I was feeling good walking on the sand and looking at nature, even though at 11:30 AM,this was so out of character for me to be outside and wandering though a park. I rarely take the time to enjoy nature, but here I was, lovin' being enveloped by the outdoors.
I looked down at the water's edge and saw a horseshoe crab.
You know the scary looking creature with the long skinny tail that if you step on will sting you? (Or is it a whip tail sting ray that does that?...hahaha)
Anyway this horseshoe crab was brown and shiny, it looked exceptionally shiny because it was wet. The river waves were slapping over it.
I thought:
"Oh, Geez, that poor little horseshoe crab looks like a beached whale. I should push it out into the water. It must be struggling....hummmm."
But you know what? I didn't want to touch it. I was looking around for a stick or something but I wasn't "line-ing" up with messing with it. It was so windy that the water intermittently washed over the crab and rocked it just a tad.
The crab was facing me, with it's tail to River.
I started saying:
"Go, little crab, into the water, Go...Go..."
and then something really weird happened, I mean really weird!
A big mound of sand erupted in front of the brown shiny horseshoe crab.
Within a minute this circular mound of sand turned towards the river and, it appeared
this sandy mound, was attached to the horseshoe crab, because the horseshoe crab turned too and both of them moved into the water.
I stood there with my mouth open.
"What the hell was that?, I thought".
and then it dawned on me, "perhaps that shiny brown crab was having sex with another crab that was buried under the sand.hummmmm.....that's a possibility".
and then I thought:
"If I would have interfered, I could have disloged them and who knows?... done some terrible damage!...Ha! They didn't need me. All is well in nature.
What a nice pause in my day. Nature reminds us again and again that we really don't have to interfere and interrupt others in the way they choose to live their lives! Ha! All really is well!