#85 "I can't believe I live here" adventure

The number of times I stop in my tracks and say, "I can't believe I live here" --- too many to count. Florida may have it's quirks, but what a hecka amazing place to live.

And it's all because of 10 seconds of insane courage, as my dear friend Pam likes to say.

Those 10 seconds changed my life. Florida living suits me and every day I am grateful.

Being able to look out my window as I work at the palm tree outside my window and seeing the turtles swimming in my pond...priceless.

Hanging out with my friends and knowing I will have a belly laugh with them...priceless.

Being able to meet up with my parents after only a quick drive...priceless.

Dipping my toes into the ocean, smelling the salty air, and being mesmirized by the water...priceless.

Until it isn't.

After two solid years of walking the beach at least twice a week, you would think I wouldn't still be surprised. But I can now say I have officially found two things that give me the full-body shudder everytime I think of them.

I found this bad boy last weekend. I'm pretty chill about most things but this super grossed me out for some reason.

Look at the rows of teeth. I mean, come on. What kind of dental madness is that? And who does it belong to?

Oh my head.

Did you know there are fish like this swimming in the ocean? Right next to where you are swimming? Gnashing their teeth?

All I can imagine is snorkeling around, minding my own business, and turning around to see this dude grinning at me.

That's a big nope.

But this hyper-creepy grinning creature isn't as gross as the moving, squirming living dude that I found further down the beach.

What is THIS guy?

Literally, it looks like a used condom who was doing it's own walk of shame up the beach. Since I had no clue about what this monstrosity was, I put it up on Facebook Fort Desoto group to find out. Turns out that it is a....

...sea cucumber? Or not. Nobody quite seems to be sure.

Either way, the guy might be small but he is mighty in grossness, especially when he is poked and he turtles in and choads himself. Yuck.

Thankfully, not all my most recent Florida experiences are unappealing like these instances.

Today, I spent eight magical hours with my friends cruising around the springs in a pontoon. We got to jump in and swim, saw lots of jumping fish and crazy big birds (including a white peacock), and just had a marvelous day. And yes, I had lots of belly laughs.

Yesterday, I got to hang out with mom and dad at the beach and then the farmer's market. Last week, I brought them a Romanesco from the farmer's market. Dad never backs down from a cooking challenge and served up a beautiful dish with this little known vegetable. This time, I sauced them a dragon fruit to try out. Curious to know how it went.

I spent a glorious Wednesday evening with my sweet friend Jen on the beach for the weekly Sound Bath meditation. The sky was glorious rainbow sherbet and full of stars that came out as the night went on.

I can't believe I have the privilege of living here. It still doesn't seem real sometimes that I get to be in such a magical place. But it wouldn't have happened if I didn't take a leap of faith.

In the middle of the pandemic, I took a leap of faith and mustered up 10 seconds of insane courage to apply for my dream job.

Those 10 seconds changed everything. It brought me not only the chance to have my dream job, but also to move here.

So here's my PSA. Don't wait. Take a chance. All you need is 10 seconds of insane courage to make the first jump to your dream.