2/22/26
This is a quick post—mostly just some pretty pictures. In the midst of a fun but challenging month of traveling here in the Florida panhandle—not to mention simply living in the world and times we are living in—I do my best to fully soak in calm natural beauty when I find it.
I spent two nights and one full day with my Servas hosts Barbara and Steve in Panama City Beach. They live in a luxury complex, with a private beach.
Philosophically, I do not like the idea of private beaches. I think shorelines and beaches should be open to the public in most, if not all, cases.
Even so, I did partake of the private beach attached to their complex, and it was an amazingly serene place to spend a full four and a half hours, just contemplating life. Of course, in this day and age, “life” is not always a pleasant thing to contemplate. I spent about half that time marinating in all the horrors and injustices of this nation, and the world, at this moment in history. I did also manage to experience some bliss and a sense of connection to nature and the ocean’s vastness and beauty. The weather was perfect—warm but not too hot, and cloudy so I didn’t need to squint—and since this is the “off season,” I had the beach almost all to myself.
Barbara told me that in their complex, only about 15 of the housing units—out of well over 100 in the complex—are currently occupied! I would have thought that winter would be the peak seaon for this area, since the weather is pleasant; that is why I am in this place at this time, myself. But apparently many of the people who own homes or timeshares on the panhandle beaches actually live in Alabama or Mississippi or Georgia. Their weather is similarly unbearably hot and humid in the summer, so they move down to their beach homes, where at least they then have access to the gulf waters for swimming and views.
After soaking up the seaside environment for the late morning and early afternoon, I switched gears in the late afternoon and biked over to the nearby Camp Helen State Park. It was a beautiful, wooded area with many different pretty views as I wandered the paths.
Then I returned to the condo, just in time to meet up with Barbara, Steve, and their neighbors once again for dinner and another beautiful sunset.
Staying in this place for two nights felt like a wonderful oasis. In my current era of travels here in Florida, things can turn from fun and exciting to unpleasant and challenging, then back again, in a matter of days, hours, or even minutes. I savor these moments of calm and beauty when I find them.
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