I still feel so lucky to be able to have been able to form so many special memories in such a beautiful place.
Taken on Siesta Key Beach in in August 2019 I remember walking down the beach with this bird so vividly.
Every Winter for my whole life, up until they sadly passed, my Grandma and Grandpa would leave behind the cold snowy weather of Metro Detroit for the warm sandy beach of Siesta Key where they had a condo. I didn't get to go very much when I was a kid, but definitely enjoyed it the couple of times I did get to go. Once my Grandpa died though and my Grandma still wanted to spend her winters at the place they shared so many memories together, my Aunts and Uncles started working out ways to make it happen. It became that she would fly down with my Aunt and my Uncle would drive her car down so that she would have mobility once down there.
One year I was talking with my Uncle about how I hadn't been to the condo in over a decade. He said that needed to change, so we decided I would tag along on his trip and hang out with him, my Aunt and my Grandma for the week. This started a mini tradition of me going with him every year until my Grandma wasn't healthy enough to go anymore. We made so many memories and it really became a special place to me. From finding what I now consider my favorite restaurant I have ever been to (Its called The Cottage Siesta Key for those that are interested) to my Grandma being the leader in us each taking a pint glass from another one of the restaurants in the area and just getting closer with family it really is a special place to me.
The condo also made my move to Tampa so much easier. My apartment in Tampa was only a little more than an hour away from the condo, and while I was living alone in Tampa, I was able to go visit family members whenever they were vacationing at the condo. It worked out that for the first year I was there it seemed like every month I was spending at least one weekend at the condo instead of alone at my apartment and it helped me so much.
This particular photo was taken when my parents came down to visit me and we went and stayed at the condo. We spent the night before walking on the beach and watching the sunset, of which I got many amazing photos. I told my Mom that i had never taken any photos of a sunrise however, so we decided we would get up early the next day and see the sunrise as well.
We rolled out of bed while it was still pretty dark outside and the first cracks of light were just starting to peek out. We quickly made our way outside into the warm humid August morning air of South Florida. I still remember it being so I humid that the lens on my camera instantly fogged up. Once it defogged I took some photos of the sun rising over the back of the condo and the pelicans flying overhead until I spotted this Great Egret land just to my left and start walking down the beach. I started taking photos and just walking with the bird down the beach.
I was trying to get a bunch of photos really quickly because I wasn't sure how much time I would have before it flew away. I worried less and less about that as the time went on and the bird just kept walking the same direction I was. I ended up walking down the beach enjoying the experience of being a few feet away from it for what felt like forever but was probably about 45 minutes. I got photos of it splashing around in the water and stabbing its face into the water trying to catch little fish that were swimming nearby, before it finally flew away.
I remember feeling honored to have experienced this bit of nature and random chance like that and to be able to capture such a beautiful and cool looking bird in this way, up close and personal.
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