Clouds, fog sitting on and around the nearby mountains

Drop down two posts to get the story of how we ended up in this neat place

 

Moore's Knob in the early morning light and whispy fog...shot with a cup of coffee nearby.  The 'Knob" is the highest point in NC's Hanging Rock State Park
 

Doing the 'relative' shuffle

 WESTFIELD, NC - - We've played this game before:  We meet a relative of Lydia's; casually mention we don't have a place to stay for the next few nights and - - usually - - get an invitation to bunk in at their place for a night or two. This time we ended up 'lodge sitting' in a restoration of a former hunting lodge way up in the sauratown mountains.  So, for a couple of nights it was two people in the Singletree Gun and Plough which can sleep 16. Since there were a number of road/trails branching off the single track road to the lodge we did a lot of hiking around.

Sunset and con trails.  I added a bit of red...it was 90 degrees

Freight train coming...

 SOUTHERN PINES, NC - - I could have been standing closer to the tracks, but then the force of warning blasts of the freight train's whistle would have probably tumbled me into the line of magnolia trees between the railroad tracks and the streets on each side.  Since I was standing quite near an intersection the whistle blasts were quite frequent and, maybe, the engineer was trying to figure out why the grizzled old guy was standing too close to the tracks.  At this location in Southern Pines if you wait long enough you're bound to catch a freight rumbling by.

Some days you get lucky

Long leaf pine cones provide the majority of the fox squirrel diet

PINEHURST, NC - -  The chubby, dark colored fellow with the long, fluffy tail is a fox squirrel.  We've been visiting NC yearly since we retired (16 years) and before also.  We had heard of the fox squirrel, a sort of mythical creature and very (camera) shy.  Something like the Kaibab and Abert species we encountered out West...just never close enough to get a good photo.

     Our buddy here showed up outside near where we're staying and literally posed for photos. ..not once or twice, but three separate times. The Sandhills Region of NC is the home of these nearly 2lb rodents/tree squirrels which makes them about twice the size of the ever-present grey variety.  They used to range farther along the southern coastal plain, but timber loss (long leaf and southeastern pines) curtailed food supplies squeezing them into a smaller location. 
 

Are we there yet??

Look closely, there are six ducklings

 
 SOUTHERN PINES, NC - - By the time we return to Southern Pines in Oct, these fuzzy little quackers will be fully grown.  So, we're on the road and eventually heading Westward while keeping a close eye on forest fires and   unsettled weather.  It gets worse each year.  Eventually, we'll be in Oregon and Washington where, on the Pacific coast, it's a bit cooler due mainly to coastal fog.   We'll see.

Up in the mountains

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - It's 1996.  We're in Switzerland and that is the Matterhorn in the background.  I'm standing right at the edge of the railway tracks a ways away from our base with a great view.  We stayed in Zermatt at the base of the mountain and the one lingering memory of the famous town were the numerous graveyards populated with the remains of those who tried and failed to climb the mount since the first ascent in 1865. 
 

On the windy side

 ORMOND BEACH, FL - - A lot of my daily jaunts around OB involve walking on the beach.  And hiking up of Mt. Ormond... better known as the OB bridge at a oxygen-busting 61' above sea level.  Friday's walkabout was blown or washed away by a 17mph East wind combined with high tide.  The fluttering sand condition warning flags were a clue that unless you were into deep, loose sand, it was easier to follow A1A South ...thus the colorful blooms.  

     And if you've got a brother who has nine felines hanging around his house you get used to cat cartoons / jokes popping up in your phone.  This is not a photo of one of his cats, but is representative of the many presents they show up with.

It's colorful out there...avian-style

Camera shy Great blue heron

Anhinga catching the breeze

Roseate spoonbill landing zone

Moorehens meandering; flowers blooming

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Orland Wetlands Park, Christmas, FL
 

The usual characters at the Farm

This roseate spoonbill quartet weren't getting along

The blue heron conundrum...roll left or right for comfort

ORMOND BEACH, FL -- - Wednesday was sunny with a pretty good wind blowing off the ocean.   Not great weather, but good enough to take a ride to St. Augustine and check out the crew at the Alligator Farm.  It seems like we go nearly every week, but when you purchase a yearly pass you should get your moneys worth.  Besides it's nesting time and we had hoped to spot some hungry chicks making life harried for their parents.  No such luck.  Nearly every nest had somebody keeping the eggs warm...or adjusting the positioning to make things more comfortable.  Those parents not warming a nest were busy in building or repair mode.

This black and white ruffed lemur looked loney

The colors of the sky; great egret and evergreen made a nice mix

 

It's springtime...let's build a boat dock

Work crew heading north on the Halifax to build a boat dock

 

Light, shadow and a bit of color

A snowy egret takes time out from getting a tan to find what's itching him

Another snowy contemplates his neighbors nest-building prowess

There were 6 golden conure parrots...and made noises like 50

 ORMOND BEACH, FL - - It's Easter Weekend which should have been a warning to us about visiting the Alligator Farm.  But the weather hasn't been cooperating the past few weeks. And Friday looked to be forecast as bright, sunny and windy.  There was no mention of loud, restless middle schoolers with teachers and parents in tow: The Dreaded School Trip.  We were attacked as soon as we arrived at AF in St Augustine by a blue wave from Boca Raton...36 students and 14 elders doing their best to enjoy themselves.  In order to keep the kids involved they each had a four sheet Q & A booklet to be filled out. I joke about the "blue wave," but they were all well behaved and respectful of the 'old folks' taking photos.

Happy anniversary

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - March 31...a day that will live in infamy or something like that.  Sixteen years ago I retired on 3/31 and never looked back.

     Of course, there were a few (or more than a few) folks who thought I retired way before the official day. So, you may ask, why not have waited a day until April 1.  I was already getting "April Fools" jokes way before I stopped coming in.

     Among the G-rated nicknames I was known by were "Dr. No" and "The Grinch".  Explaining the backstory to those would take the fun out of it.  Hey, I still got a pretty neat retirement party...and best wishes to "not let the door hit you in the ass on the way out."

Check out my new ride...

She's a beauty..

 ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Tired of high fuel prices??  Camel power is the answer.  The above version is the one-hump model (Arabian dromedary), but there is also the two-hump style found in areas of the Dark Continent.

This medium mileage model came with extra big hooves and a groomer to keep things looking good

Going for a ride with the two-up saddle looked a bit uncomfortable, but by wearing dark glasses you give off that Hollywood star look. 

Camels don't often show up in Ormond Beach so when the signage announcing the (Volusia-Flager county) Jewish Festival Sunday noted 'camel rides' I had to check it out....as well as the bunnies in the petting zoo.

I don't know who the extra tail belongs to

A ruffed ring tail lemur with extra ring tail
 

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - For my money the lemur exhibit at St Augustine's Alligator Farm is the highlight of every trip.  Sure, the nesting birds are the real draw at this time of year.  But I could watch the lemurs with their "deer caught in the headlights" expressions for a long time.  Last week we got there just as a mad dash by the 10 residents toward their enclosed hideout was in progress.  It only took a bit of searching to see a 'farm ranger' with food was on the way. The pair in the above photo were a bit slow to head to brunch.

Gator time and others at the Farm

Great white egret flying home

Roseate spoonbill...and the 'spoon' looks more like a small shovel

Gator pile up

A pintail duck with turtle buddy

The old iron skillet

The old iron skillet is pretty good for baking biscuits

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Strawberry rhubarb jam and a cup of coffee for breakfast

 

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Saturday is a day for experimenting with breakfast and putting aside the hard boiled egg and toast in favor of biscuits, scrambled eggs, bacon and coffee.  This has been going on for a couple of weeks as Lydia searched the internet for different recipes for "easy drop buttermilk biscuits."

     Most recipes were about the same, but then we found a baking idea away from using a baking sheet.  Hence the iron skillet.  And the skillet in the oven works great.  Now I have to shuffle cooking bacon and scrambled eggs to be ready close to French press coffee-time and hefting the iron skillet and biscuits out of the oven. The next goal is trying to figure out how not to get the biscuits oozing together as they bake.   No matter, big or small; oddly shaped or whatever, Lydia's biscuits are scrumptious.  

 

Just roaming around the neighborhood

A 'windy' egret

Some of our front yard hibiscus

Ferns growing on a piece of marl

Sun and shade

 

Waiting

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Waiting.  We all do it.  And it's easy to see a reflection of ourselves in the wildlife world around us.  The pelicans in the top photo are patiently waiting for the guy cleaning his catch to throw some guts in the water.  So it's one eye on the on the guts and one eye on the competition for a snack.

     If the middle pic looks familiar it's because the photo is another angle / time of the great blue heron / water pipe shot from a few weeks ago at Viera Wetlands.   The early morning sun on the reeds lends a different touch to the breakfast watch of the bird.

     The final photo would have a lot more meaning if I had been able to capture the bald eagle as he was resting / waiting on the pier railing.  This was not a normal location to see an eagle so while I scrambled to take the pic a group of seagulls harassed the eagle to leave their territory.  The eagle is the largest / darkest object against the cloudy sky.

Can you dance??

What, me dance???

 ORMOND BECAH, FL - - A feeling of exuberance may have overcome this male sandhill crane  at Viera Wetlands last Thursday.

This nearby snail was not impressed

Nevertheless the warm-up moves were quite good

Until  his significant other told him to quit the foolishness.