DOLPHINS!!!
I’ve been fascinated by dolphins since I was a kid. I don’t know whether it was the vague recollections of the original Flipper TV series, the sightings off the beach of Anna Maria Island while on vacation, the Jacques Cousteau specials or a combination of all three, but for some reason I’ve always been intrigued by and interested in these amazing creatures.
On those Anna Maria Island vacations I would often see small groups of dolphins moving up or down the beach at nearly the same times each day. While laying on the beach reading, I’d have my mask and snorkel and fins at the ready. As soon as I spotted the dolphins in the distance I would don my gear and head for the water. No matter how many times I tried–I never got close enough for an underwater glimpse.
This morning, I set out to get in my first training in the outrigger canoe in a week. It was a relatively calm, overcast morning on the water near Dunedin–just enough break in the clouds to let a little orange glow from the sunrise peek through. At about the four-mile mark as I started to turn around I noticed a couple of small groups of dolphins. They were feeding and frolicking and I just had to stop. Most were at least a few yards away, but one passed right in front of the bow for a close encounter.
It was an interruption to what was supposed to have been a continuous, steady workout–but, more importantly, it was a reminder of why I love to train in natural environments.
It also reminded me that I have a novel I wrote–with dolphins at the core–that is waiting for completion–as well as two other novel storylines with dolphins at the center waiting–waiting for me to harness the motivation to move forward.
Maybe today’s encounter will be the little push I’ve needed.
Kip Koelsch Author 
My completed novel is now available on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Wendalls-Lullaby-Kip-Koelsch-ebook/dp/B074KHLF4P