JOURNAL --- Today is a bittersweet day for BeachnRiver Kayak Rentals. We celebrate one of our busiest kayak rental days as we learn of the nasty oil invasion on our beautiful beaches. The event is coincidental --- we received a referral from the Tin Top Restaurant and despite rain, a large party from Mobile, AL celebrate two birthdays with their friends kayaking the Bon Secour River. All kayaks are on water --- a first for us since the oil spill was announced.
As a new business, this year was to tell us if this whole "kayak rental" idea would pay off. Rentals were going gang-busters during Spring Break, the rhythm of bookings consistent with our expectations. It was Spring. The water was still cool and we had many rain-outs. We anticipated Summer would tell a different story.
As a new business, this year was to tell us if this whole "kayak rental" idea would pay off. Rentals were going gang-busters during Spring Break, the rhythm of bookings consistent with our expectations. It was Spring. The water was still cool and we had many rain-outs. We anticipated Summer would tell a different story.
On any other busy day hubby and I could hardly contain excitement. "Maybe the word has gotten out of the fun and value of kayaking with BeachnRiver Kayak Rentals," we might say. But this day we are almost somber. We don't jump for joy --- or even high five. We feel a tightness in our guts that this day may be an anomaly and we clutch the receipts as though we may never see them again.
Yesterday, June 4, news broke of confirmed sightings of tarballs and oil on Gulf Shores, AL beaches. I learn this via Twitter." An hour later I learn (via Twitter again) an advisary is issued for Gulf waters. The local five and six o-clock news stations announce with "Breaking News" and "Dateline" later portrays an ugly "Special" of the blight on our white sand beaches.
I refer to our local Gulf Shores/Orange Beach CVB online Alabama CVB Website to watch chirpy Rebecca Wilson tell on the June 5th edition "there is alot of seaweed" ... "there are scattered tar balls and patches of oil.""Please do not pick up the oil of any form" she warns ..."the Al Dept of Public Health has issued a swim advisary for Gulf Shores and Orange Beach."
Upbeat sounding as she is (ya gotta love her positive spirit) Ms Wilson ends the clip with "our beaches are still open ... you can sunbathe ... you can walk on the beach."
By now I'm thinking "euww" (Be honest. Aren't you?) Nine tenths of me wants to make the trek to the beach to see first hand this landmark invasion while the other part of me wants to close the lid on the coffin.
These are images I watch today: Gulf Shores Oil Invasion.
For the past few days our tranquil "tropical" setting has been assaulted by sounds of military choppers flying low overhead. This is a strange departure from the occasional recreational plane with banner flapping announcing "Mikee's Seafood Specials." The air is seemingly and eerily quiet the rest of the time. I've yet to see a hummingbird. The feeders remain full. I can't say the last time I heard a heron squawk.
It is as a calm before a major storm. My senses are attuned to the subtle differences of nature's song. I feel a nervous anxiousness --- a "fight or flight" kind of jitters is settled in. I'm sad. I'm prayerful. I'm remorseful. I make bargains I'll never keep (like promising to do my best to reduce my carbon footprint and live off the grid) and repent my little faith in the profiteering "Man."
I also want my life back (damnit! I'm mad enough to spit). After running down an inventory of all we've overcome I retract my thoughts to count blessings --- then I think of the chirpy Ms. Wilson and wonder if I can be paid enough cash to ooze the confidence our life and the lives of all affected will ever be "made whole."
I'm grateful for our kayaking guests. I'm grateful we still have beautiful water on the Bon Secour River to enjoy. I'm grateful BeachnRiver Kayak Rentals can offer our kind, out-of-town guests one more (natural outdoor) entertainment alternative to a themed waterpark, mini-golf or shopping mall. But never in my lifetime will I be happy it may come as an alternative to a trip to beaches along the warm, formerly beautiful, life-sustaining Gulf of Mexico.
I'm choked. Aren't you?
(As oil seeps toward the Loop Current I hope God keeps tally.)
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