Flower Dancing

A Great Blue Heron struts his/her stuff among the flowers at Orlando Wetlands

Happy Mothers Day

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - We took a trip to St. Augustine's Alligator Farm Friday.  They have a rookery which, at this time of year, is like a huge condo complex of nests and young birds.  In honor of Mothers' Day I wanted to show how much fun it is to raise a young, hungry family.
     The great egret family (top) have taken to munching on mom's head until they get food.  Meanwhile the roseate spoonbill clan are loudly voicing their displeasure at the food service.

I'm back

ORMOND BEACH - - Sorry about the three month break in my blog but something got in the way: Cancer.  Stage 2, left tonsil.  Less than a week after birthday 73, the biopsy came back positive.  Two days later I started treatment:  7 weeks of once-a-week chemo; 7 weeks of 5-days-a-week radiation therapy.  Add in a two week hospital stay near the end of treatment for being badly dehydrated and you have a fun time.  Not only that, but the radiation gives the inside of your mouth a bad "sunburn" so that you can't eat solid food and that's why I'm on a feeding peg.  Hook up to the machine and get  food through a tube in your stomach.
     Anyway things are looking a bit more positive now.  I'm walking a mile-plus a couple of times a day and working on getting my strength and stamina back.  Losing 25 lbs. didn't help.  So that's the story for now.  Sort of regular blogs to follow.  CHEERS

I can't find my snow shovel

80-degrees; fishing lines in the  water; boats on the river

A perfect April or May bloom....in late December

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - The weather is weird all over the country.  We shouldn't be complaining.  In a regular year we might run the heat a few times.  This year, it's AC everyday.  People on vacation should love the weather, especially if they haven't been to Florida before.  Of course if you want to swim in the ocean, paying attention to the lifeguards and their information on rough waves and rip currents is a must.
     There will be a wake-up call sooner or later.  The temperatures...if only for a day or two..will drop to near 40 or lower.  The beautiful white, orange-ish, yellow and vermilion colored blooms on our bushes will realize that this really isn't mid-spring. 

Happy Holidays

Alf and Murphy

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - On this Christmas Day, we take a moment to reflect on loved ones who are no longer with us.  For 17 years the above two fur balls made life in our house interesting.  We miss them.

Not sure if your neighborhood is like ours, but we've seen Santa's Helpers buzzing around the streets on golf carts...pulling carts loaded with packages...and wearing brown!!  Not a red nose or elves clothing to be seen anywhere.

Out and about

Fish for breakfast

"I think I may have a problem."

ORMOND BEACH, FL - -  It's been nearly a month since my last post.  We've gone a few places to check out what has changed in the five months we were away...not much.  And our photoshoots involved much of the same subjects as last year. 
     One new discovery has been Lake Apopka Wildlife Drive,  an 11-mile (one-way) meander mainly through the wetlands on the North Shore of Lake Apopka but also a stretch of the shore line.  We found more birds than we've seen in a long time.
     As we were driving along we spotted a Great Blue Heron make a strike at a fish.  The bird was below us in a drainage canal so we couldn't immediately tell if got lucky.  The GBH quickly took off and it was evident it has speared something big.  Luckily the bird landed on the other side of the canal and we could see it's problem:  big fish; bad angle for swallowing and really stuck on it's bill.  Add to that that other birds will soon show up trying to steal the fish.
     We watched for a short while, didn't see much progress and then drove on.  

Home, again

Sunrise...OB

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Well, here we are.  Back at home in Ormond Beach.  We've cleaned out our VW "Bus" and again marveled at what we had stuffed inside.  You would think after six (five month) trips out West we would have packing down to a science.  Close, but not quite. 
     You could say that things are about back to normal...what ever that is.  We've been out to a couple of our bird locations.  It looks like our feathered friends are still on vacation.  So we'll take it easy and wait a bit for the weather to cool down (80's) before checking again.  Fortunately we know our favorite restaurants are still open.

1498; 1499; 1500

WEST END, NC - -  I know there were doubters out there.  Too many pieces; they won't finish the puzzle.  Here it is all done.  1500 pieces, no empty holes.  Now, what do we do with it??

Blue skies

French streetscape

John Burroughs two story cabin

Saugerties lighthouse

SOUTHERN PINES, NC - - After 10 days of rain, grey skies, more rain and mostly miserable weather, today the skies are blue.  Thankfully, there was no serious flooding where we are like there was in South Carolina.  So, what do you do when the weather is crappy: hang out in our favorite coffe house; spend lots of time (Lydia) on a 1,500 piece jig saw puzzle or grab an Amtrack train to Poughkeepsie, NY to visit my mother and brother.
     Some of the weather followed us tp Pok but we went out exploring just the same.  John Burroughs was a literary naturalist who liked to hang out in the woods.  His two story cabin, called 'slabsides' because of the rough-sided wood he used to build it, is now  nature center.
     The Saugerties Lighthouse went into use in 1869 and continued until 1950.  It is only 46 feet tall and was used to cover a very narrow section of the Hudson River.  It is now maintained by a local lighthouse association and functions as a two unit bed and breakfast.  The nature trail you traverse to reach the lighthouse could be termed 'interesting.'
    Last Sunday we were in Penn Station in NYC ready to hop on our train but aware of the bad weather in the Carolinas.  Thirty minutes to go and one moment the schedule board says our train is on time and the next minute "CANCELLED."  (In all, it was cancelled four days straight.)  We got lucky and were able to get on another train headed to New Orleans, but going through Greensboro.  The train stopped at 12:15am and Lydia's brother picked us us.  Luckily we got near our destination.  Not sure how a lot of the other cancelled passengers fared.  (Our route home to OB...I-95...ended up having 75 miles closed for a period of time but we still have a couple of days yet before we're due back.)    

Guard Kitty

Want to find out how sharp my claws are??

SEVEN LAKES, NC - - Max, the guard kitty at the family BBQ reception we recently went to,  didn't sound off much.  Just a flex of the claws was enough to let folks know if they were on the invite list.

Grits for breakfast

SOUTHERN PINES, NC - - After some  sage advice from Lydia, I decided not to take photos of the "Y'all come back now" eatery.  Oh, the advice: "They probably shoot tourists taking photographs."  We stopped in Liberty, NC for breakfast.  Perfect.  Sausage and gravy;  buttery biscuits; red-eye gravy and GRITS.  Nearly four months without grits and you can get a craving.  Or not.   (My choice:  Sausage and cheese omelette plus grits and a biscuit. Got to save room because we have a BBQ get together to go to this afternoon).
      The small eatery, tucked in the middle of a row of buildings, was filled with people who seemed to know everyone's name.  No computers or smart phones until a Youngster (40-ish) joined those ready to fill up on good southern cooking. 

A battlefield along the way

"Know the power that is peace"    Black Elk

GRAYSON, KY - - One of the things we do on days we spend needing to put in some big miles on is look back.  One of my favorite places to visit if we are in the area is the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (Crow Agency, MT).  A great majority of folks have heard of the Battle of the Little Bighorn and General Custer.  A visit to the area and the battlefield toward setting the  story straight.

On the trail of the Tin Man

Fay man in kilt checking out the pizza menu

Forest fire  damage in G;acier NL

Golden Marmot in Rockey Mountain NP

DANVILLE, MO - - We were in Montana in my last blog.  It's been a long road, some computer problems and not too many places with wifi since then.  We've been through apple country (Wenatchee, WA) , cherry country, smoky areas covered with haze from forest fires, hay fields, hay stacks, fields of what I call " cow corn" waiting to be harvested for winter feed.  Now we're near St. Louis so I'd guess we're back to civilization.  It's been interesting, but not real photogenic although we did  see some characters.  The chubby guy waiting for the pizza joint to open so he could chow down and get back to the Scottish/Irish festival just outside Rocky Mountain NP was one.

Bear day

WEST GLACIER, MT - - We took a trip to Many Glacier Lodge on the East side of the mountains hoping for some better weather.  No such luck.  Rain, low clouds, wind and maybe 40-degrees.  We figured maybe we would see some bears.  We usually do...if you use binoculars.  Luckily this beary fellow (or ms.) was grubbing the hillside just above the roadway.  The sound of cameras clicking did seem to irk a bit judged by the facial expression we got every so often.

On a cold and rainy day

Porky

WEST GLACIER, MT - - A colorful blanket on the couch; a favorite 'frog' pillow and a nice gentile rain.  That's all the inducement Porky need to take a nap.  Of course Porky doesn't real need any inducement to take a nap because 'every day is nap day all day long.'  As a watchdog at the campground he has a pretty good job.

Polebridge day trip

The center of activity.  And the bakery is open.

The "Lending Library."

WEST GLACIER, MT - - Polebridge is a bit off the grid.  No power, no phones and the folks who live out there like it that way. Solar panels or generators are the 'make-do' system. The Merc has been serving the area for over 100 years.  The  real drawing point is the bakery  with bear claws; scones; fruity buns plus cookies, coffee and other delicious items.  The drive is mainly on a bumpy dirt road and well worth it.
      If the residents need a library book they can walk over to the Polebridge Lending Library and take or exchange one.  The selection may not be huge, but it's nice to know you can tell folks:  "Hey, we have a library."

Photo for previous blog...and add 2

Great visability

Lake McDonald (GNP), mountains, hazy/smoky/stormy clouda

Art shot:  vanilla ice cream flowing thru the rocks

The 'great smokies'

WEST GLACIER, MT - - We are back in one of our favorite places - -  Glacier Campground just outside the (west) gate to Glacier National Park.  Our two day trip from Anacortes, WA took us through a sea of apple orchards and fields and fields of what I call "cattle corn" which is basically winter feed.  And then there were fields of unmown  hay for bailing and stocking away.  That was the fun part. 
     Day two we had smoke and more smoke.  The wind created some heavy smoke, some not too bad but always a reminder of the massive forest fires burning north of us.  A tele-sign near our destination reminded us that 40 miles from our campground the highway was closed as fires burned too close to let traffic through. 
     At the campground our hosts had settled us into the same site we used while working at GNP for three summers (2011-12-13).  Great folks, sort of like visiting relatives you really like.
    This morning (Sunday) the smoke has cleared quite a bit, but the sky is filled with angry clouds.  Rain is good to help the fire fighters.  And while we wait to see what the weather brings, we're hanging out in Montana Coffee Roasters, sucking up coffee and working the net.

Time for the next adventure

Cap Sante Marina: 800 boat slips plus 200 work boat and transient slips

ANACORDES, WA - - After 11 days of resting up / goofing off and listening to the music of the rigging on the masts being played by the wind, it's time to head East.  Next stop: Glacier National Park to visit some friends.  The weather forecast once we leave  Anacordesis hot and smoky.  A large portion of Washington State to our east is struggling with forest fires so we are monitoring the route(s) we want to take to West Glacier.  Of course the shortest route runs through the area most devastated. 
     No more listening to the sea gulls until we get home in mid-October.