Floridian: Linda Humphers: Second place ($100 prize)

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Linda Humphers: Second place ($100 prize)

By LINDA HUMPHERS
Published June 26, 2005

[Times photo: Bob Croslin]

Linda Humphers at Pass-a-Grille beach.

A natural night owl who never got to sleep before 2 a.m., there was only one thing my mother could manage to do first thing in the morning: go to the beach. The beach was always Pass-a-Grille, a holdover from the days when there was still a long row of tall Australian pines to shade her fair skin. She loved the salty Gulf of Mexico but couldn't take the sun, so we'd jump in the car before 8 and run over to the beach for a short swim.

Swathed in gauzy layers of white, starting with baggy pants rolled to her calves, a linen shirt with the sleeves all the way down and the collar turned up, topped off with a scarf around her hair and a big floppy hat, she'd glide into the water - just like the Bahamian women do - to float and paddle, her various fabrics as puffy as jellyfish.

She'd talk to anybody, especially kids, and soon other swimmers would be bobbing around us, everyone contentedly murmuring about nothing. One morning some 25 years ago, most likely in May or June because the early morning water still felt cool to natives, a huge school of stingrays started running. This sent a shock through our new little flotilla, who began making tracks for dry land.

Mama called out to anybody who wanted to hear, "They won't hurt you if you don't step on them." She became very still and crouched down in the water as hundreds of stingrays flew past her. "They're so soft," she said, letting them graze her outstretched arms.

Pretty soon, everyone waded back in, feeling the rays' velvety wings brushing past their legs. Careful to keep our feet off the bottom, we must have looked like buoys, rolling and swaying on a perfect day.