Settling In and Getting Going

And now for something completely different:  I seem to have given the impression that I spend all my time idling along the beach, but of course this is not so.  At most this takes up a pleasant early morning hour but there are another twenty-three to fill and for that you need to find a life.  Now there’s the rub for an expat – where and what is your life now?  Of course, once you have arrived at your new location you could spend days, weeks even, mulling over this philosophical question but that generally leads to tears and horrendously large telephone bills so the sooner you realize that this is already a done deal and get on with things the happier you will be.

When we arrive in a new county to live I generally give myself 3 months to settle in.  There is no point in beating about the bush:  we are only staying temporarily so we need to hit the ground running.  Three months is quite an arbitrary length of time but I read this in some ‘Advice to Expats’ book and it is as good a timeframe as any.  When looking for a new home I try to keep in mind that this is not going to be our lifelong residence and good enough is good enough.  Fortunately ‘good enough’ in Florida has come with a swimming pool and endless sunshine.

Once installed now comes the trickier part: finding like-minded people to befriend.  Over the years I have developed a foolproof plan, which is to enroll the children into the nearest international school and go along with them on the first day of term.  In any international school there will be up to a third of the pupils and attendant families starting afresh at the beginning of each school year and hence a ready made group of friendly and slightly desperate women to hook up with.  Except that on this occasion my children have inexplicably grown up and are now independent young adults and what’s more they live in London, hardly convenient as helpmates in finding friends in Florida.  So that was my major challenge on arriving in Vero Beach.

My first thought was to find a job, but this was quickly dismissed for a variety of reasons, my love of holidays being uppermost (American jobs come with very limited time off) but also the slight inconvenience of not having a work visa.  However what you can do here very easily is work for free on a volunteer basis for a whole variety of interesting organizations.  This has a great many benefits.  You can pick your hours, only do tasks that you love, go away for weeks at a time and not get fired, and meet some very interesting people.

One thing you have to get used to when volunteering is being told what a wonderful job you do.  Paid staff in an organization are genuinely grateful for any help they can get and are always offering praise and this can be a tricky issue for those of us from across the water.  In the UK we are often not good at accepting praise and generally hang our heads, turn bright red and mutter something depreciating.  We can also be a bit miserly in giving it too. Not so here however where giving and receiving praise is done freely and frequently and I am slowly learning that the correct response is to hold your head up, smile and say thank you. But it doesn’t come easily.

Shortly after arriving I saw an advertisement for a volunteering position with the American Red Cross (ARC) to help the Volunteer Manager here in Vero Beach.  I applied and went along armed with my CV, which really wasn’t necessary.  Help is help and new volunteers are never turned away.  That began what has been a rewarding and stimulating experience.  I have to confess that I was very ignorant of the ways of the ARC when I first started.  My knowledge of the Red Cross in the UK has been limited to first aid and bandages.  Early on in the job I overheard a conversation about a volunteer who didn’t want to help out on a disaster and that perhaps a different organization would suit her better.  Disaster?  I listened further to discover that the primary role of the organization here is to give frontline disaster relief and that in the event of a hurricane we the volunteers are not expected to jump in our cars and drive like the wind away from Florida.  No, we are expected to stand our ground, hunker down in a shelter with half the population and help pick up the pieces after the event.  Initially I found this very worrying as any normal person would but I have gradually become accustomed to the idea and taken many of the training courses run by the ARC so feel much more prepared for the task.  Promotion can come quickly in a volunteering position if you show willing (after all no money is involved) which makes the work all the more varied and allows you to take on new and amazing challenges. 

A revelatory insight from seeing the wealth of volunteers here is that I believe I now understand the great pre-election idea of our Prime Minister and his Big Society.  I will go further and suggest that I am in fact the only Brit who understands this abstract idea as goodness knows no one knew what he was on about at the time.   If anyone from the Cabinet Office would like to contact me I am for hire at reasonable rates to spread the good news.  Travel and a decent meal would have to be included.

Another great way to get to know some wonderful and friendly people is to join a book group.  You will immediately have something in common with the people you meet and a pre designated topic of conversation to get you started on a friendship.  I have belonged to several groups in my time and they all have food and/or drink in common so they are about more than the reading.  I have been a member of a group that met in the evenings, after dinner, and wine got the conversation flowing, although not always exclusively on the topic of the book in question if I am honest.  I now belong to a group here in Vero that meets in the mornings and then retires for lunch at a local restaurant for general chat, and the two types came beautifully together in Belgium where we met over lunch and wine.  A note of caution here though:  decide how serious you are on the book discussion before joining a particular group as I have found that the amount of intellectual discussion that takes place is inversely proportional to the amount of wine consumed.

A final stroke of serendipity in our settling in process was coming across our local Environmental Leaning Centre and finding that they were about to start a series of classes on the local ecology.  Anyone who has briefly visited Florida will be struck by how overwhelmingly flat and – dare I say it – boring looking the landscape is.  We had also heard rumors that it was inhabited by some nasty creepy crawlies, snakes, alligators and the like so the opportunity to learn how to identify these dangers and learn to love the environment we had ended up in seemed too good to miss.  As it happened the classes were part of the Florida Master Naturalist program and over 2 years we have taken all the courses offered. In the meantime we have come to love the scenery, including the ‘uplands’ of Florida, defined as any place where a plant’s roots do not actually have to sit in water, and which rise to the dizzying heights of 300 feet.  I have found a peaceful affinity for the cypress swamps with their cool clear water and of course have developed an obsession with turtles and all things beachy.

So that is my recipe for a successful move, be it to Manila or the next town down the road.  Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there but also make sure that you have a cozy home to retreat to in those early days when things may seem a bit bewildering.  A couple of Union Jack cushions and the soft tones of BBC Radio Four on the internet can usually get me back on track.  And as Susan Coolidge says in her poem New Every Morning:

Every day is a fresh beginning

Listen my soul to the glad refrain.

And, spite of old sorrows

And older sinning,

Troubles forecasted

And possible pain,

Take heart with the day and begin again

Catch you later

Carol

Turtle Hatchings

I know, I know, I said I was done with the turtles and it is true that new tractor trails are getting to be a rare sight on the beach in the mornings but last night was a busy one none-the-less as several of the nests have hatched and there are miniature tracks, no more that a few inches across, weaving across the sand in all directions.

  

The theory behind a hatching is that a couple of days before the babies break out of the nest they start emerging from their eggs underground and gathering in a group, still safely buried in the sand.  Once all (or most at least for there is no time to wait for the tardy) are free of their soft shells they erupt from the nest in one energetic burst and go hell for leather down to the water’s edge, tiny flippers a blur of activity.  They should instinctively know which direction to take as the breaking waves on a dark beach will be the brightest point around.  To ensure that this is so, residents in houses lining the back dunes must turn off or black out any lights facing the ocean to prevent confusing the little ones and in our area at least the residents are very good at following this practice.

This morning we came across a perfect example of how to escape from a nest and all the tracks lead down to the water.  Ten out of ten for this batch of babies. 

However this is not always the case, especially in nests further away from the shore.  Here there seems to be a certain amount of confusion amongst the turtles when they finally see starlight.  Often a nest will have tracks coming out at all angles as if the hatchlings were in such a hurry to escape that they beetled off in whichever direction they happened to be pointing when they emerged.   

A few minutes of thoughtful reflection at this stage and it could all have ended so differently.  As it is the hapless ones who head towards the back of the beach usually come to a bad end, their tiny tracks ending abruptly (picked off by a bird?) or more sinisterly ending where a ghost crab’s trail begins. 

The crabs are not kind to their prey, snipping off one front flipper to immobilize the victim and rushing around to see if they can catch some more before dragging them all down into their lures.  

One thing is certain; by the time the sun comes over the horizon and slowly takes over from the surf as the brightest point on the beach all the newly hatched turtles have gone somewhere – ocean, crab, bird or raccoon – and all that is left of them is their tracks.

Now I am done with the turtles.

Chat soon

Carol

Beach Visitors

Beach Visitors

It was all excitement on the beach this morning, my leisurely stroll upgraded by a feast for the eyes.  September is the time the large shoals of fish pass by along this coast line and today they were running.  There was action from the shoreline to the far horizon as the dawn feeding frenzy was underway.  The first clue was the silvery necklace of small fry decorating the shoreline, glittering in the early sunshine.  These poor creatures are the bottom of the food chain, born to be eaten, and a continual supply were being chased onto the incoming waves by the jacks hunting them; surfing in to their doom.  Once washed onto the beach they flapped frantically to maneuver themselves back into the water but most ended up slowly drying tantalizingly close to the ocean.  One walker was gamely trying to throw the small fish back into the water one by one but the odds of nature were overwhelmingly against her and she had to accept defeat.  The seagulls wheeling overhead then swooped down to clean up so there was no chance of escape for the struggling fry. 

Things were no quieter in the water.  The surface boiled and swirled with the action taking place below and shoals of smaller jacks occasionally took flight as the snook prowled and attacked.  These larger predators have arrived in force and groups of them swirled in the waves a mere three feet from the shoreline, breaking the surface of the water with their spine-like dorsal fins and sleek long bodies.

Further out to sea the tarpon were gathering and one, under pressure from an unknown attacker, shot up into the air to reveal its powerful shiny body.  It was at least five feet long but we will call it six as this is a fishy tale.  And beyond these the sharks were prowling, so close to the surface that the fins could be seen breaking the water.  No foolhardy bathers were risking an early morning swim today.

Word of the fish had somehow spread and fishermen and women began to arrive hauling their rods and paraphernalia down the sand and making themselves comfortable on their upturned buckets or, for the more organized, beach chairs. It looks like there will be a lot of fish suppers in Vero tonight.

One lone green turtle track and nest had appeared overnight but no one was interested in that.   Turtles are yesterday’s news as today the fish have arrived.

Life's a Beach

Hello and welcome to the very sunny state of Florida.  

I have been living here for a couple of years now, a very different experience from our UK home in beautiful Edinburgh, and I wanted to capture some of my impressions of this unique place before we move on. Two years into our stay is an odd time to start a diary but better late than never as they say!

Vero Beach is a small but perfectly packaged town situated roughly half way up the east coast of the state, not well known to tourists but a magnet for snowbirds in the winter months with a gorgeous beach which we are fortunate enough to live close by. I timed myself on my morning walk today and it takes 2 minutes 52 seconds from my front door to the sand so when I say close I know what I am talking about.  

One of the best things about living here is an early morning stroll on the beach.  If you can get to the beach at sunrise it is a fabulous sight.  You are also a better person than I am as I rarely make it that early, but I can be there pretty early – before breakfast at least and I feel good about that.  (Side note:  In America you are absolutely allowed to feel good about yourself, in fact it is a requirement.)

We live on a long sweep of the bay with a wide stretch of sand; an accreting beach (ahem! Florida master naturalist here).  On this particular morning there was a line of clouds on the horizon initially hiding the sun and lending the water a metallic sheen and two dolphins were circling around on the hunt for their morning meal.  

I generally turn right onto the beach and head south, away from the town. There is no public beach access on this stretch. On a crowded morning you may meet 4 or 5 others walking the beach but if you are lucky you will have it all to yourself.  The beach is backed by beautiful million dollar homes discretely nestled behind the dunes. The views from their houses must be fabulous but if you are prepared to walk for 2 minutes 52 seconds to get your sand fix you can save a whole lot of money.

Turtles come up to nest this time of the year so you never know how many tractor-like trails you will see first thing.  This morning I was lucky and two loggerheads had come up and nested.  For some reason the loggerheads seem to be flagging in energy this year and only make it just past the high tide mark before they dig their nests.  The green turtles on the other hand, of which we have many this year, are much more sprightly.  They have huge wide tracks and wander up to the back of the beach, a not inconsiderable distance, have a thoroughly good time flinging the sand around to make an enormous nest site and then go on a wander through the back dunes before wearily dragging themselves down to the ocean again.  That is their one and only contribution to the raising and well being of their offspring whom they never see again.  They could bump into each other in the surf zone one fine morning and would not recognize each other.  As a mothering strategy it seems a little lazy to me but I can see that it has its merits.

There is usually a collection of sanderlings scurrying about the waterline, following the waves back and forth.  As the waves recede they rush to the water’s edge and frantically drill into the sand with their fine long black beaks in search of sand fleas and then charge back up the beach as the waves advance almost, but never quite, knocking them off their feet.  They expend so much nervous energy they are quite exhausting to watch.

It is a good excuse to sit down and watch ‘the boys’ coming over the island from the lagoon on their early morning patrol of the shoreline.  These are the brown pelicans that fly in single file along the beach just above the water and every now and again move up and down as if going over an invisible speed bump in the air.  Playing follow the leader, once the first pelican goes over the air bump the others follow suit when they reach the exact same spot.  How do they know to do this?  I haven’t a clue.  

There is a recent new addition to the beach crew – a rather gorgeous yellow crested night heron, strutting around looking as innocent as the sunrise.  But I am not fooled; I have his number.  He is on the look out for newly hatched turtles for his breakfast. I would love to chase him away but all I can do is watch and feel virtuous in knowing that no matter how he preens he will never be my friend.

If all of the above sounds idyllic I have one warning to sound when walking the beach in the Florida summer months.  When I set off in the mornings for my stroll I look reasonably normal (if sleepy and perhaps a tad dishevelled).  But beware of the mirror when returning home.  I took a peak once, before my shower, and beheld Einstein looking back at me with all the frizz that statement implies, minus the brains of course.  I was also going to add minus the moustache but I am 52 years old and, ladies, you know what I am talking about.

Catch you later

Carol