The "Gaining Some New Friends On The Beach" Story

All our neighbors have left to find
more permanent shelter from the storm.

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting under the Yellow Umbrellas on Orient Beach waiting for the storm to pass.  Carol and I decided to wait out a nasty storm that pushed its way from the south side of Orient Beach to the north as well as toward the west.  Dark storm clouds had been accumulating for more than half an hour and many of the beach guests had decided to search for a more permanent cover than just a beach umbrella.  Our friends of many years, Don and Joy, decided to also wait out the storm and removed their own umbrellas from their base and drew them closer to the ground for better protection.  

Our friends Don and Joy have joined us in waiting out the storm.

Wasn't long after most beach goers had sought shelter than the skies opened and the liquid sunshine pelted us.  The large beach umbrellas supplied us with quite a bit of protection so we decided it was time to eat while the rain fell around us.  As I looked up and down the beach, the only true beach bums were Carol and myself, Don and Joy and a few hearty souls to the north of us on the beach.  As we opened our cold packs and removed our lunch, seems the smell of the food drifted toward two roaming dogs who found their way to our umbrella and hustled under it with us.  So, the four of us shared a few sandwiches, some cheese twirls, grapes, cheese crackers and drinks.  

Our very wet guests, Brownie and Blackie waiting out the storm.

After lunch Carol and I huddled together under our beach towels to try and get warm while our furry friends found refuge under our chairs.  Took close to a half hour before the storm passed and other beach patrons began to return to their chairs.  Our two new friends remained with us until the smell from some neighboring lunch baskets became greater than our friendship and they were off.  In the Caribbean, storms can arrive quickly and drench the beach patrons and just as quickly pass by.  The secret is to know which storms to ride out and from which to seek cover.  Carol and I knew we were going to get soaked one way or another so we chose to stay and eventually gained the friendship of a couple of furry friends.  Somehow they always find us.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.