An Unexpectedly Eventful Monday

After several phone calls going back and forth, we decided to join some friends for a beach outing. After all, school will be starting, so we need to take advantage of these last couple of weeks.

We were to meet JB, my daughter's college roommate and best friend, at 10:00am, and it was 8:45. She lives clear across the next town, so we had to get moving quick. I'm usually not very good with last minute plans; I like everything well thought out and organized. But I was able to get lunch and snacks packed, clothes packed, everyone changed, picked up EV (another friend) and got to JB's at exactly 10:00am. Cool! JB wasn't ready, though, which didn't surprise me too much. We also needed to meet up with another family that was joining us. As we stopped for gas, it began raining. South Florida is notorious for afternoon showers, and these were starting a bit early. We decided against the beach we'd originally planned to go to, and went to Hollywood Beach instead (yes, there is a Hollywood in Florida).

The kids (ranging from age 5 to age 22) went straight into the water. I stayed behind with LT, a lady from JB's church who was a missionary to France for 9 years and has been back for two. There was so much I wanted to hear about! We were having a great conversation (we'd just met but felt like we'd known each other for years), when we heard people calling out, "Get out of the water!" LT asked why, but we couldn't get a straight answer, till someone yelled, "Shark!" Can you imagine how we felt at that moment?! Our kids were not in deep water, but still we wanted them out! Then we saw everyone gathering at one end of the beach, not too far from where we were. LT and I stayed behind as the rest went to see what was going on. The kids came back, and my son E, with his eyes as big as saucers, exclaimed, "We saw a dolphin, a real dolphin!!" We later learned it wasn't a dolphin, but a beaked whale that got beached. It was a baby, and apparently had gotten hurt. Shortly after, the mother was also beached. Seems she'd been looking for her calf. There were news helicopters everywhere, and people were trying to keep the whales wet and out of the sun. As we were leaving, we noticed more whales out in the distance, part of the group the two beach whales were with. It was an amazing sight. We later learned both the mother and her calf died, which was really sad. (Read about it here ).

It made for some excitement, and also for reflection. These whales live in community, and stay together when one of theirs is in trouble. The mother whale went after her young, while the others waited for them to return. We could learn alot from these peaceful animals about living together and lending a hand to each other, whether family, friend, or neighbor. It would be a much nicer world to live in if we were as interested in helping others as the whales are.