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Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, Wendy Victora Column: This Summer, Forge Emerald Memories for Yourself and Your Children

Posted on: Sunday, 21 May 2006, 15:01 CDT

By Wendy Victora, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach

May 21--School's out. Warm weather's here. And the tourists will not be far behind. This summer, don't waste time lamenting the traffic, the congestion and long lines at restaurants. Just join them. Be a tourist. Yes, go out to Destin Commons and splash in the fountain. Take your kids to the beach. Have a picnic. Build sand castles. Enjoy this beautiful area for what it is -- a destination. One so perfect that people spend hundreds of dollars a night to stay in our sandy paradise. See it through their eyes. Imagine spending a week here -- just one week -- and then do all the things you've always wanted to do. Pretend you're on vacation, then head home to sleep in your own bed. Get your feet wet. Feel the breeze. Listen to the waves. Watch the sun set, the way it glows pink and orange on the wet sand at the water's edge.

I say this from experience.

We came here with tourists' hearts and I realized this morning that we have lost that wonder that we once had for the area.

We can get it back.

We can go out on boats, snorkel near the jetty, put tiny clams in a bucket of water and watch them open up.

We can walk out on the Okaloosa Island Pier and peer through the aquamarine waters at schools of fish, stingrays swooping and gliding, herons standing sentry on the light posts.

We can purchase a state park pass and use it to get in free to all the state parks in Northwest Florida. We can read the signs, walk the trails, scout the beaches and shiver in spring-fed pools.

We can watch the sun rise and watch it set.

We can go to the local zoo, aquarium and museums.

Yes, we have done all these things, but not often enough.

And for the past few years, it feels like all we have done is worry about hurricanes -- their before, their during and their unpredictable aftermath.

We have run from them and then crept back to see what havoc has been wrought on our area.

This should have taught us that all the beauty we take for granted is fleeting.

Yes, the sunsets will always be there but even the beaches are not where they used to be. You don't know what this summer will hold.

Grab it while you can. Put on your tourist caps and your sunscreen.

Get out of your house, your neighborhood, your comfort zone.

For those of you with school-age children, you have only about 10 weeks to give them something to write about their summer vacation.

That time will hurry by and what fits them this year will never fit them again.

Make memories. Daily News Staff Writer Wendy Victora can be reached at 863-1111, Ext. 478, or wendyv@nwfdailynews.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Northwest Florida Daily News

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