Summer Memories: Stumpy the Seagull

My friend Carla, over at All of Me Now, is hosting this week’s Rhody Blogger blog hop.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Rhody Bloggers are linking up honoring and celebrating the beautiful beaches of Rhode Island. We’re each sharing a cherished memory of an Ocean State beach. You’ll find links to a wonderful collection of beach memories at the end of this post.

I grew up on a beach in Florida and am slightly embarrassed to admit that I have only been to a beach in Rhode Island a handful of times. Well, actually twice. The first time was in August 2007 and the only way my mama brain can remember that was looking through my old Picasa Web Albums and finding the pictures from that day.

My dear friend and {former} neighbor Marion introduced me to the lovely beach of Narragansett on a beautiful summer day. We spent the day lounging and reading books with the waves crashing in the background. My favorite memory of the day was the seagull that landed right next to us. First of all, you need to know Rhody sea gulls are obnoxious and would carry my baby away if they could lift her. They want your FOOD. NOW! So this little guy landed next to me, with a stump leg. He hung out around us for the entire day, begging for my pretzels. We spent the afternoon imagining this dude’s story and how in the world he lost his foot/claw/talon. He was a happy bird and you wouldn’t have even know ol’ Stumpy was missing a foot- except for the hopping I suppose.

Our coast line was beaten up pretty badly by Hurricane Sandy. The first picture in the post shows the Coast Guard House restaurant, which was completely destroyed by Sandy. I never knew I had a picture of it until I went rummaging around my online photo albums. That is one of the reasons I love keeping so many pictures- you never know when you’re snapping a piece of history… Please take a minute to check out the other lovely Rhody Blogger’s favorite beach memories.