Dear Reader, This morning we woke to still air and heat. We had sweat running down our faces as we loaded up the boats and began our first day of paddling in the Intracoastal Waterway, aka The Ditch. Gone were the houses. Gone were the docks. And save for one kingfisher, one pelican fishing by the culverts, one cormorant and one hawk, gone too were the birds. For 12.5 long nautical miles we paddled a line of dark water bordered by sand embarkments topped by soil and pine trees. Some pine trees were barely holding on, like this one with …