Adventures of Patito Amistoso: Chapter Six

At the "The Rocks" in Florida

Dear children of Guatemala and everywhere else,

It's been way too long since I picked up my quill and wrote a blog.  It has been so hard to be away from the water for so long.  So let me tell you the story about why Deb and I are not kayaking these days.  We did finally get out on the water in a pontoon boat and saw a garbage dump from thousands of years ago!  I'll tell you about that too!

Back in January Deb finally gave in to the pain she was feeling in her arm.  We went to a hospital to see what was the problem.  It was bad news.  Deb's neck was broken.  Well, not exactly broken, her spine just needed to be fixed.  So no more kayaking for us while Deb had surgery, and now while she recovers.  You know, for a duck, it is hard to be away from water for such a long time, so Deb has been taking me to the ocean, like in the photo above where we played in the surf at a place called "The Rocks".  It looked more like Maine's rocky coast, than the usual flat sand beaches of Florida.  We found a starfish in one of the rock pools!

Starfish!

Even though Deb is not kayaking now, she still is going all over the place to tell folks about the children at Safe Passage.  It was fun to be on TV and tell the stories there!  But those lights get very, very hot, and my  feathers were starting to curl from the heat!  Can you find me in this photo?

At the TV studio

The best adventure recently was going to Canaveral National Seashore and taking a ride in Mosquito Lagoon on a pontoon boat.  We were finally back out on the water.  You know I came from the Guatemala City garbage dump community, right?  Well, I was amazed to see at Canaveral, a garbage dump that was thousands of years old!!

Me at Turtle Mound - a very old garbage dump

The Florida coast is very flat.  See that little hill in the photo?  That is Turtle Mound, and it is actually a garbage dump from the Native Americans who lived along this coast for centuries.  They gathered oysters here, and threw the shells into a huge pile called a "midden", which is really just a garbage dump.  But it was odd to think of a dump with only one thing in it - sea shells.  The Native Americans didn't generate a lot of garbage!  After the boat ride, we climbed to the top of the Turtle Mound, and below is what we saw:

Mosquito Lagoon on the left, Atlantic Ocean on the right

We could see both the lagoon and the ocean.  The seashore is on a very narrow barrier island here.

It is starting to get a little warmer now that we are down in Florida.  It is starting to remind me of the climate in Guatemala.  Many of the flowers and trees are like ones in Guatemala.  It is making a little bit home-sick.  But I will soon be back in Guatemala!

On Thursday we leave on a sailboat for Guatemala.  I've never been on a sailboat.  I hope I do not get sea sick.  I don't think I will, because who ever heard of a duck getting sea sick?  It will be amazing to be on a boat and not be able to see land in any direction.  I wonder how we will find our way to Guatemala?   

It may take a while before I can write again, as we will not have internet access or cell phone access on the sail boat.  We will our satellite tracker with us and hope to turn that on so you can all follow our journey at: https://share.delorme.com/DebWalters .  You can see the blue line where Deb thinks we will go, but she is not a sailer, so she is just guessing!  Stay tuned to find out about our trip! 

Your friend,

Patito Amistoso