It was over 100 degrees this weekend.

After a long day on the water, my kids sat with their cousins at the edge of my parents’ dock, their faces still pink and salty from hours outside.

Knowing there were still many hours before bedtime, my dad wandered over carrying two small nets—one bright orange, the other brown with rust.

The kids took turns scooping water from the lagoon.

Then someone shouted.

“What’s that?”

“Where?”

“There! With the white belly!”

“Oh my gosh! It’s a swimming crab!”

“Crabs swim?”

“I guess so.”

After years of reading about crabs that scuttle across the sand, we all sat and watched one drift just beneath the surface, its white belly flashing as it disappeared and reappeared in the water.

Sometimes a rusty old net and a flicker in the water are all you need.