Who said I wanted to be on Survivor?

If you were stranded on a deserted island what three things would you bring?

Questions like that are always hard for me to answer.

(of course being stranded kind of implies that you hadn't intended to be there, so it's not like you packed for the occasion, but we'll ignore that fact for the moment.)

I mean... I could be all practical and bring a multi-tool, some non-perishable food and maybe one of these.

But bedding, some books and chocolate would be nice too.

What if you were only going to be stranded for say... thirteen hours?

Enough time for the tide to come in and go back out again.

I guess I'd want some sunscreen, water, and a snack or two.

Oh... and bug spray.

Fortunately, all this planning and imaginary packing wasn't necessary.

  I got lucky and wasn't actually stranded on this deserted island in Maine,

but it was a close call!

We had heard that this island was a good source of sea glass,

so we got out of bed bright and early
and trekked across the barnacle covered rocks that were uncovered only because the tide was out.

We knew that we had a limited amount of time to explore the island.

We knew the tide would come in, but we didn't realize just how soon!

The girls and I were just over that rocky ridge on the other side of the island,

blissfully unaware of the incoming tide.

(You see, both of my parents and my aunt were also there, so I took on the role of trusting child rather than vigilant parent and I just assumed that someone else was watching the tide.)

Anyhow....  there we were combing the beach in search of sea glass when I heard my mother call,

"We have to go.  We're in trouble!"

The girls and I popped right up and scrambled over the ridge.

I stopped for a moment to find the pathway that we had come across on 

only to realize that the path was now covered with water!

Right away we were all pretty aware that we were going to have to wade across.

No one really questioned it.  We knew that our chance was now or never.

(or 13 hours from now.) 

I had the presence of mind to take the little point and shoot out of my back pocket and stick it in my bra.

 (Yeah... sometimes you just have to go there.)
(and thank God I didn't have the big camera!!)

I grabbed Julia's hand and said, "Let's go!"

 

The current was swift as the tide rolled in

and there was a point when the water was nearly up to my waist.

(which means it was quite a bit higher on Julia!)

 My aunt fell into step on the other side of Julia 

and my dad took on the two older girls.

My mother (who didn't know it at the time, but had a sprained ankle) managed on her own.

Honestly,  I know this sounds all dramatic and horrible, 

but I couldn't stop smiling the whole way across to the other side.

It was an adventure!

One that my aunt kept telling Julia that she would never forget!

I sang "Oh, dear! What can the matter be?" as we crossed the water.

(I don't know... it was the song that popped into my head.)

(shrug)

Once we were safely on the other side, I took the camera out of it's hiding place and snapped a few shots.

We all recovered quickly and didn't even wait until we were totally out of the water before we started combing the beach for more sea glass and other treasures.

Like these pretty little rocks.

(Have I mentioned that I really like rocks?)

And... since our shoes were already soaked,

no one thought twice about wading through tide pools to get to their treasure.

If we had waited any little bit longer to cross back over we would have been swimming 

or trying to hitch a ride on the nearest lobster boat,

or maybe just sitting in what little bit of shade there was fighting off the mosquitoes and eating the few wild raspberries that were left on the bushes while wishing that we had thought to bring water.

Thankfully, that didn't have to happen!

For another perspective on this "adventure" check out my mom's blog here.

Oh, hey... had I mentioned how freakin' cold that water is?!