Fair-Weather Friends (a.k.a. Cracker Diggers)

In early March, Mom, Owen, and I got in the car and headed out to Folly Beach to put our feet in the sand. After running around on the beach for a while, Owen was ready for a snack.

It all started with one cracker. And one seagull, who just HAPPENED to land nearby during Owen's leisurely consumption of said cracker:
Two other seagulls ALSO HAPPENED to land nearby soon after the first. We were so delighted! Hey, look Owen! Seagulls!
Several more landed, and we still weren't sure exactly what was going on...is there food somewhere? we wondered...
Food: check. Right in Owen's hot little hand. Those seagulls are VERY PERCEPTIVE. This photo is taken shortly after the company-wide memo was sent out: "SHORELINE: 10AM. CRACKER! CRACKER! CRACKER!"
Mom thought we should share the crackers so she crushed a few up and offered them to the masses. Then all the seagulls' long-lost relatives and casual acquaintances came out of the woodwork to join in the fun.
Once the crackers were polished off, the seagulls hung around chatting us up, waiting for another course. They were just as niiiice as you please. A little pushy maybe, but turning on every ounce of charm they could muster.
Then they started to get huffy. Owen did an excellent job diffusing the palpable tension in the air. He calmly explained that there were only a few crackers left and that he planned to eat the rest for his snack (and by "explained," I mean that he walked toward the seagulls saying, "Ma!").
Finally, one seagull said, "Let's blow this joint," and another one was like, "Yeah, man, this place is SO five minutes ago," and then they all took off. Just like that. And there we were again, just how we started.
Cracker-digging seagulls may come and go, but family is forever.