Stingrays, shells, shrimp, and pottery

Okay, I am determined to keep writing. I've been up past midnight working for the past three nights. I'm making plans to go to Australia and trying to get a bunch of work stuff done. I know that I have to log my Holland trip, my Hawaii trip AND also say something about our family trip to Sandpoint. Oh well.

This week I'm back in Panama City, FL. Before I came here I told the townsfolk to get out their Tiki gods and make sure no hurricanes would show up here. Things looked good until today. Now Wilma, the 12th hurricane and 21st named storm, is now heading up the Gulf still unsure of its path. No worries here.

At any rate, I've been working with a consulting group here this week and this afternoon we set out on Joel's boat to do some field work. I'm bugged that I left my camera at home. I could have taken some very cool pictures. Well, we never actually made it to the project site but we did do some cool things. First they took me to Shell Island. Guess where it got its name? I gathered several shells to take home and give to people at the office. Next we drove across the bay (East Bay). Beautiful sunny day. Then Joel took us to the back side of Tyndall Air Force Base. We anchored the boat in about 3 feet of water. We then got out and walked close to the shore. In this warm water, there was lots to see and lots to be VERY careful about. First there were the stingrays. There were enough of them to keep you on your toes. They are fun to watch but don't step on them. Next, there were the shrimp. TONS of them. All over the place. They swim around your feet and are so fast. Really the only way to catch them is with a net. There are also dangerous oyster clusters on the sand that will rip your feet open if you happen to step on them. I had a nice sized jellyfish between my legs. I didn't see any aligators but they are around in plenty of numbers. So why come here? Besides the pristine nature, and beautiful scenery what we were searching for was pottery. Pottery? Huh? Because of the recent hurricanes, the shore and beach fronts have been greatly eroded. So we started digging and found several pieces. Now, how old are these pieces? It's hard to say. The pieces are attributed to the Woodland Phase Indians. I know very little about this group of people but it was cool to find pieces of pottery that was hundreds (if not thousands of years old).

At any rate, what an interesting afternoon. Thanks, Joel.