Cloudy Day Walkabout

Tuesday morning of my last week in Bermuda dawned a little cloudy.  It was probably for the best that I was not going to have a lazy day on the beach.  It gave me time to do that baking that I promised my former coworkers that I would do.  But once that was done it seemed a travesty to not go to the beach since it hadn't actually rained yet, despite the forecast and clouds.  i decided to revisit Elbow beach, as one of my favorite rocks is there.  Yes, I have favorite rocks.

As always, Bermuda had a few treats out, even though the sun was not one of them.  I found a postcard perfect piece of seaweed enjoying the lonely beach.

And I had an unobstructed views of my favorite beach and some of the rocky areas at the far end if it.

And near the very end of the beach is my favorite rock.  The water was a bit rough on this particular morning, but it made for some nice photos anyway.  The favorite rock kind of reminds me of a crown.  When I first visited the island as a tourist almost 6 years ago, I walked down Elbow Beach every day and to this rock, fascinated by the lava rocks in the sea.  This picture was my favorite of my first trip to Bermuda...and I think it shows that it already captured my heart.

Me back in 2008, on what I thought was a once in a lifetime trip to Bermuda.  Life is funny.

On this day, I said goodbye rock, as I was not sure when I would be seeing it again.

And near my favorite rock was something I had been hoping to catch on film for a long time.  A Portuguese Man-O-War which had washed up on the sand.  Elation is not how people normally feel when they meet these, as those long purple tentacles create a stinging burning sensation if they touch you.  But I thought it looked quite pretty sprawled out on the sand.

I spent quite a bit of time, with a stick, and the Man-O-War, trying to place it so that the current would pull it back out to sea.  That didn't work.  So I took it out a few feet and tried to get it past the waves....but it still kept washing ashore.  I think I got one tentacle brush at some point, but it didn't sting too badly.  After a while I realized it probably wasn't going to survive the battering on the rocks as it kept getting washed back ashore, so I put it in a little pool of water near where I found it, hoping it wouldn't dry out, and that it would get a free ride out to sea when the tide rose a while later.  Godspeed little fella!