45under45: Nothing is really work...

Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.

J.M. Barrie

(Creator of Peter Pan)

Even jogging? Yes! When there is so much to enjoy along the path! Today's blog will be more a mindful and quiet meditative experience. Just focus on the sound of the gravely sand beneath your feet. Breathe...

Oh! A hummingbird! And its sitting still. Quick! Take a picture, Jennifer!!!

Without anything to use as perspective, this looks like a giant woodpecker.

Back to the workout. Breathe. It's the journey... Enjoy the sensation of the sweat rolling down your face, ridding your body of toxins. Om.

Oh. I better stop and take a picture. What a funny sign! My mom will like that.

In through the nose. Out through the mouth. One step at a time. Onward. You've got this. You're amazing. Keep running. Go!

OMG! What is that? A wild creature? About to attack?!? I better stop running and take a picture.

Big breath. You've got this. Run, woman! Wilma Rudolph... Jackie Joyner Kersee... Jennifer Melnick-Wolf... We are one in the same. Around the loop at the north end, twice. That's the plan.

Oooo! A skinny path to the west. Forget that twice around the loop plan. Jog on the shore of the Sea of Abaco. Fearlessly, hurdle the rocks, climb the limestone outcroppings... I am Sylvester Stallone. This is my iconic moment.

SHARK! Crusin' the sandy flats. We were one in the same. Effortless. Left. Right. And then he stopped.

So, I stopped. I sat down half lotus and used my mental telepathy to commune with the shark.

He was motionless. I was motionless. We had a "moment". But, then the north end of the island called to me. Sorry, Mr. Shark. I gotta go.

Jogging was no longer an option. I ran out of pathway. I had to concentrate, every possible misstep meant certain calamity...jagged man-eating craters and wicked dagger-like-spires. The limestone is unforgiving and there's no doctor on this island.

I made it safely up and around the north end! No gold medals, no bronze statue at the top, commemorating me. Just endless sun, sky, and sand. And, that's the best reward...EVER!

The sea glass gods do this all the time. Perfectly frosted! But now actually part of the rock. No amount of poking will free these beauties. They're fused together for eternity.

I'm not sure what type of crab this was. But, I think that I've identified it as a "clinging crab" according to what I read on this website. (It's worth clicking on the link to learn a bit more about this fella.)

I got a decent handful of sea glass while I was walking the Atlantic side of the north end. There's a perfect spot of beach between two rocky sections. The sea glass just sat at the high tide line, all I had to do was bend down and pick it up. (This bending action counted as the squats and dead-lift portion of the work-out.)

On the way back to the settlement, I heard an unusual sound...a helicopter. I watched it circle the little island off in the distance and then land. Ho hum.

I strolled back to the golf cart at the south end of the settlement and snapped these pictures along the way.

By the time that I got back home, I was so sweaty and gross that I needed to take a shower! It seems weird to shower to go put on a bathing suit, sunscreen, and then get in the pool and go to the beach. But, a shower was necessary!

The day ended at On Da Beach...