MOVING THE ANCIENT BOUNDARIES

Splashing through puddles carved by the tides. Wiggling our toes in the coarse sand of Little Talbot Island. And chasing Mama and Daddy down the beach to their favorite fishing spot, was my brother’s and my delight each Wednesday afternoon when we were kids.

Daddy loved to surf fish.
And Mama? Well, I think there must’ve been a little competition between those two—you know—who would catch the bigger fish before the colors of sunset bled into the horizon.
Atlantic waves pounded the shore of this wild and tiny island between Mayport and Fernandina Beach, Florida. Many of this nation’s aircraft carriers were stationed just across the inlet at Mayport. The waters were deep and the waves majestic, making this lonely stretch of beach a fisherman’s paradise and a kid’s gigantic water park.

The roaring waves, beach sand, and sea breeze, coupled with the security of the carriers in the distance…