Blankets? Sure, we might have to wait a while. And insect repellent. The dunes were full of no-see-ums on a hot, muggy night like this. And mosquitoes.

“I’m going to ask my father if he wants to come. Okay?” Haley said. “He’s sitting on the stile.”

“Sure. It’s really something to see. How about I meet you in the parking lot in about ten minutes. I just got in from work and need to put on some jeans.”

We agreed that would be fine.

“Go get your father,” I told Haley.

It was the beginning of one of the most haunting and memorable evenings of my life. The five of us piled into our car (Fred insisted on driving) and headed toward Navarre Beach.

“Don’t they come in at Destin?” Fred asked Tammy.

“Too built up. They come in along the National Seashore where it’s dark. Any light, even a match being struck in the dunes, will send them right back into the water.”

“Are they endangered?” Frances asked.

“The loggerheads, the kind that usually come in and lay their eggs along these beaches, are considered threatened. There are five types of sea turtles that nest along the United States’ coastline. The other four are on the endangered list. Leatherback turtles are almost extinct.”

“That’s terrible!” Haley exclaimed.

Tammy, who was sitting on the front seat with Fred, turned to look at us. “Y’all don’t want to get me started on this. I’ll preach to you all night, and lose my temper, to boot.”

“I’d like to hear about it,” I said.

“Well, I can’t spout out the numbers like Millicent could. But I know that something like 55,000 loggerheads drown in shrimp nets every year in spite of the turtle excluder devices that are supposed to let them escape, and thousands choke on plastic trash or get caught in boat propellers. And if they survive to return to their nesting site, condominiums have been built there. It’s a pretty bleak outlook for animals so hardy they’ve been around since the age of the dinosaurs.”

“And man is doing them in,” Fred said.

Tammy nodded. “The only good thing is that man is beginning to realize what he’s done. There are more and more people becoming aware of the sea turtle’s plight and trying to help. There’s a real active volunteer group here along the Panhandle.”