Yesterday, we learned a severe thunderstorm was headed our way. Moving out of San Antonio, Texas at 40 mph where golf ball-sized hail littered the city. On the other end of the jagged line of thunderstorms, lightning strikes caused power outages in Dallas. The track of the storms was ESE. We were directly in the path. We thought about packing up the RV and heading…? East? Nothing there but the ocean. North? That's the path of the top end of the storm. West? The tail end of the storm hadn't cleared the area yet. South? Mexico. Hmm…. We decided to take a stroll on the pier. Why not? The storm was at least two hours away. Something cool might be happening out on the water. The sky had grown considerably darker. White caps smacked the small boulders lining the shore, sloshing sea green foam onto the narrow sandy strip between the rocks and the beach road. On the far end of the pier two fishermen cast their lines into the water. The bait shop near the entrance of the pier was open for business and making money. No one seemed the least bit concerned a tornado-producing storm was bearing down on us. Before we put one foot on the walkway we saw two dark fins break the surface of the water. Sharks? We hurried across the damp wooden planks swinging our heads shoulder to shoulder, not sure which direction to focus our attention. Three others went under the pier and came out on the opposite side. We were finally close enough to see them. Dolphins! No more than forty feet from the shore. What a magnificent sight. I'd never seen them in the wild. I couldn't stop smiling for the longest time.
The storm arrived minutes after we returned home. It's times like these when you find out if there's anything wrong with your recreational vehicle. We found out ours has a leaky window above the built-in dinette table. Raindrops had made a thin sopping wet trail down the backside of one of the cushioned seats before we noticed. Sheesh.
Today is sunny and clear. The storm continued on a southeasterly path and moved out over the ocean. We opened all the windows. Set the cushion on a lounge chair under a shade tree to dry. Then we went to the store to buy caulk. Later on, we were ready to get out and have fun after being cooped up indoors for the rest of the day, yesterday. We returned to the pier. Mostly to see how different the ocean looked compared to yesterday. The water was fairly calm. I say fairly because there's a marina here, and boats, mainly commercial fishing boats, come and go all day long, so waves are common. We saw the first jellyfish since we've been here. It wasn't the huge Portuguese Man-O-War. This one was small, hemispherical in shape, white or milky in color. The short tentacles are fused in a tight bundle and contain a poison that'll cause a stinging sensation.
I found out what else lies beneath the pier: Sea lice, stingrays, gafftop and hardhead catfish, and sharks. And I know what that ole blue heron would say about it. "Stay out of the water, and you'll be fine. Either that, or get a bigger boat."
