A Full-time Life

Category: Florida

Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge

Earlier this month we set out to explore another part of the State.. There really is a lot to Florida that is different from the sun-soaked beaches often pictured.

We camped near three different National Wildlife Refuges: Loxahatchee NWR on the Northernmost end of the Everglades, Nathanial Reed Hobe Sound NWR, and Pelican Island NWR on the Indian River lagoon near the Atlantic Coast. These pictures are from the first one.

The ongoing drought was still obvious at the beginning of our trip — very dry and not a lot of birds.

It was good hiking weather though (and by hiking, I definitely mean walking on lovely boardwalks.)

It was quite warm out, but there was enough greenery for shaded walks… the best kind.

Thigmotropism examples
(cypress tree trunk grown around fence post obstacle
and cypress knees)

We always learn new things from our walks. I’m as much a word nerd as I am a nature lover, so I enjoyed learning this new one and being able to take pictures showing it. The sign explains what thigmotropism is, but says nobody knows why it is. (A fun word to say, although I probably won’t use it too often in everyday conversation.)

It was a joy to come across ponds that weren’t dried up.

Boardwalks always have “rest stops,” usually a simple bench placed at an overlook. Loxahatchee was the first one I’ve ever seen that offered rocking chairs. Of course we tried them — and of course it was hard to get motivated again for the rest of the walk. We were grateful both for the rest and for being able to finish the walk.

Drive-by shot in a pretty village on our way to Pelican Island — more on that interesting Refuge and the end of our trip in another post.

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April 20, 2026
Six Mile Cypress 2026

We walked at Six Mile Cypress Slough last week. We visit this County Preserve at least a couple of times every year and I’ve posted about it almost as often. It’s a treasure that feels familiar — and yet different — every time we go.

Unfortunately, it has been extremely dry this year and the watery places that attract wildlife were either dried up or close to it. The pond above was much shallower than usual. I always hope to get the perfect picture of familiar birds but that didn’t happen this time. The collage below is a collection of herons from last year’s visits.

Great blue herons, night herons, and Little Blue herons frequent the Slough (in a good year).

ISix-Mile is located within Fort Myers city limits but it feels as if you’re in the middle of a wild place (except for the fact that you’re doing your hike on the well-built boardwalk shown above on the left.) There are several strategically placed “pull-outs” along the walk.

.We took advantage of this one in order to find out whether Henry David Thoreau was correct when he said “You learn that if you sit down in the woods and wait, something happens.” It’s good of the park volunteers to place that sign right here because by that point in our walk we needed to ~~rest~~ wait for something to happen.

While we “waited” we watched a couple of squirrels building a nest. They would stop to nibble on twigs and leaves as they worked. So Thoreau was proved right — something always happens.

There’s a welcome update as I finish editing this post that I started last Sunday.. That morning, it began to rain (with crashing thunder and lightning). The cooler, wetter weather has continued as I finish writing the post a few days later. We really need the rain in this area and we are grateful.

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March 20, 2026
Closer to home

I have been writing about the joys of travel and I love remembering those. But we’ve been home at the Canal Cottage for a while now so it’s time to share some everyday smiles. We don’t have to go far for them!

I love waking up to peach-colored skies — the top picture is blurry for a reason (besides my shaky camera hand). I took it through the screen on our porch about five minutes after I got up one morning. Bottom left is a reflected sunset and the moon also from the porch.

Even living in a warm and bright climate, it’s good sometimes to bring a little sunshine into the house. One way to do that is by visiting the traveling produce market that visits our snowbird community weekly.

The “haul” on this particular Tuesday was definitely a day brightener. I like visiting Farm Markets, but it is wonderful to know we have one visiting us — it’s about a city block length away to the front of our clubhouse, where these lovely people set up shop every Tuesday morning.

Here’s a sunny kitchen bouquet — these are supermarket flowers and they last forever!

On the way to that supermarket one day, we stopped at our local Eagle nest, just across the highway from the store. It’s interesting to visit occasionally. Their nest tree is located in a horse pasture next door to a welcoming churchyard which has plenty of parking — quite a few photographers and nature-lovers spend long hours there. You can actually follow the eagles from anywhere however as they have become internet famous on the SW Florida Eagle cam.

But it’s nice to take at least a couple of pictures every season. If you squint at this one, you can see one of the adult eagles on the “attic” branch, while the eaglet looks out over the edge of the nest, practicing independence for a not-too-distant future when it will fledge and eventually fly away.

The top picture is one of the adults (I have never been able to tell the male and female apart unless they are right next to each other), while the little one surveys the wide world below home, These pictures were taken a little over a week ago. Sadly, the mother eagle has died since these were taken — the male is doing a good job of caring for junior until it no longer needs him. Find more of the story by linking to SW Florida Eagle Cam or searching Facebook or Google.

We saw some more Florida birds last week, when we ventured across town driving to Sanibel and Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

It was the usual suspects on the wildlife drive. But I never get tired of the usual. Here are white and brown pelicans looking as if they’re bored or as if they’re babysitting assorted shorebirds.

An osprey surveys his kingdom.

I did a double take when I looked at this downloaded picture and hesitated to include it , but it is the craziest thing. I am absolutely positive that the pelican(s) at the right are an illusion somehow, but eek, where is the other pair of legs? (I cropped the photo, but it is otherwise un-edited.)

It was a lovely day for a drive and short walks on the island, but as we drove home across the busy bridge we could see rain moving in. That’s OK — in fact that’s perfect. SW Florida needs it and evening is a good time for rain — we’re almost home by then and ready to stay there for the next few hours.

We are grateful.

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March 8, 2026
Around home, mostly

Blue sky days have been rare the last couple of weeks, but on one pretty morning I saw some interesting wild-flowers in the wetlands across the street. They were the tallest flowering plants I think I’ve ever seen. I zoomed in on the flowers. It’s easier to walk closer to the wetlands after the winter season because the RV lots along that side of the street are vacant.

I’m marginally better with bird ID than with wildflowers — keep meaning to install that app. I think the two ducks below are Lesser Scaups.

The Scaups were swimming on Merritt Island Parkway last month. We have been sticking closer to home this month. It’s a busy time for us and the weather is iffy anyway. The wet/rainy season is here and at the same time most days are very hot and humid. Weather is different here. The skies in the picture below are a good sample of what we’ve seen most days lately.

It’s going to pour down any minute now!

You really don’t want to be outside in a Florida rainstorm. It comes down in walls and buckets and this time of year it comes with thunder and lightning. And even though this is our umpteenth season here, I never get used to the other thing about Florida rain. Which is that it can come down in those buckets and with all that noise for an hour or two and then suddenly just stop completely. Then the sun comes out and you can’t even tell it rained. The picture below is the calm after the storm. It is taken from the end of the canal.

After the Rain

There are a few people who live here year-round, but most are snowbirds who head to their home “up north” by April. The snowbird season is typically November through March. We’re snowbirds too of course, but we come later and stay later than most. Autumn is beautiful where we live in Oregon so we love being there then. Late Spring is beautiful there too but grass-seed is a major crop and so it is also a hay-fever magnet. We are thankful to skip allergy season as long as we can.

Below is another memory from last month. The osprey didn’t seem to be impressed by the roseate spoonbill coming in for a perfect landing.

“When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.”

Chief Tecumseh

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44 comments on Around home, mostly

June 13, 2025
Rabbit rabbit rabbit!

Happy June! An old superstition claims that if your first words on the first day of the month are 'Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit' you are guaranteed good luck for the next thirty days. I don't think Bill was too impressed when I mumbled them early this morning, but he did return the greeting a little while later — so I think we're good to go. (As long as I remember to avoid black cats and ladders and all those other superstitions I also don't really believe.)

This lucky bunny was snacking on grass growing on the canal walls — he hopped past while we were relaxing on our covered porch (called a Lanai here in Florida) enjoying the relatively cool evening temperatures. Our breeze comes from the wall on the Canal side which is screened with one sliding window that opens to the outside. But the grass and the rabbit were on the other end, so the picture is through the glass windbreak wall on that end. I'm grateful to have this outdoor living area, especially on these long evenings.

Unexpected wildlife is a nice bonus. Here's another close to home sighting:

Coming back from a short evening stroll last week I spied these two Yellow-Crowned Night Herons patrolling the walk just across the Canal from our house. We do see more birds in our neighborhood this time of year because most of the people are gone.

We had a close wildlife encounter of another kind when we were away last month:

Why did the turtle cross the road? Because he had help from a gallant rescuer. Cars were backed up both ways along Merritt Parkway waiting for this turtle and the poor thing couldn't quite make up its mind whether to proceed or go back. So Bill just jumped out of ours and very gently assisted it into the grassy verge along the beach. He got thumbs up and smiles from quite a few drivers. There were no angry honks at all. Sometimes faith in humanity is restored in unexpected ways.

Enjoy the Month — and Good Luck!

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June 1, 2025
We also saw …

More bird sightings from our trip earlier this month. But first a picture taken this week much closer to the Canal Cottage :

Royal Poinciana trees are in full bloom all over the area. This one is in the swamp across the street from us. It's very hot here right now and this bright and showy tree contributes to the tropical ambience. A common name for this beauty is Flamboyant Tree which I think fits well.

And now back to our trip to the wetlands.

We spotted this adult Sandhill Crane with two juveniles as we started our second day's walk at Orlando Wetlands. It's always a bit startling to see how big these birds are.

It was definitely family day at the park, because I spotted the tribe below almost as soon as we stepped onto the boardwalk.

Common Gallinules are not a rare bird, but they can be hard to spot because they nest and hide in the reeds and vegetation at the water's edge. This pair obligingly took their family out for a morning swim just as we arrived.

The babies were so cute — it was hard to stop taking pictures.

But soon they made it easy for me to move on as they headed back to their hidden home:

Bill got a bit tired of watching baby gallinules and had gone ahead a little way. When I caught up, he pointed out some birds I might have missed.

The Great Blue Heron above and the Little Blue below were waiting patiently, but not for me. Instead, like all Heron species, they were biding their time watching for the perfect meal to swim past. I took advantage of their stillness.

Our trip was exactly what we needed and the Canal Cottage was nice to come back to. It's summer here for sure now, beautiful early mornings and long evenings but hibernation time during the heat of the day. Here are one day's skies, morning and evening:

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May 25, 2025
Bowls of Spoonbills

We took a little mid-week getaway trip last week, staying in Titusville on what's known as Florida's Space Coast. But we went to see the birds, not the rockets. We spent most of two days walking in the Orlando Wetlands near the strangely named village of Christmas.

Making angel wings!

Bowls of Roseate Spoonbills were everywhere. (That really is the collective noun for groups of Spoonbills.) I'm happy any time I even glimpse those beautiful pink wings. On this trip they gave us more than glimpses.

Great Blue Heron and habitat scenery, Orlando Wetlands

"In the midst of chaos, find peace. In the midst of sorrow, find joy. In the midst of loss, find hope.”

                                                                        Margaret Renkl, “Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss"

Roseate Spoonbill

Usually we see spoonbills foraging in shallow water. They use that bill to sweep the water stirring little fishes and insects up from the bottom. So that bill (more spatula-shaped than spoon in my opinion) is a necessary survival feature, but it really isn't exactly what makes them so photogenic. On this day they must have already eaten because all we saw were perched up above the water. All the better to show off their color and wingspread.

A whole bowl of Spoonbills

This was an accidental flight-shot, but I'm rather proud of it anyway. I'm usually too slow on the button to catch that action.

Foraging Roseate Spoonbill (from an old post)

We saw other birds on our two days of walking the Wetlands and again on our Merritt Island drive-through on our way home, but they need their own future post. These beauties somehow almost took over this one.

Spending time in nature is a path toward calm and peace. I'm grateful we were able to go there.

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May 16, 2025
Coming back to happy

Thank you for the kind thoughts on my last post. They helped and continue to do so. I wrote that very personal post during the weeks we were in Oregon and first thought I was writing just for the two of us and maybe family. (I don't keep a journal and really the blog has become the only writing format that feels comfortable.) When we returned to our Canal Cottage, I realized I'd never be able to blog again if I didn't share that post first. I really had meant to close off comments, but I forgot to click that button and now I am glad I did. Good thoughts and especially the empathy really do help.

I am working to collect small moments of joy — really always possible to find and becoming easier day by day. I haven't stopped taking pictures and they remind me of those moments. I've also been reading and collecting wisdom. Because my attention span is short these days, it is mostly in the form of appropriate quotations. Those help too.

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on.

                                                                                                                                                                                                        Robert Frost

Grief starts to become indulgent, and it doesn't serve anyone, and it's painful. But if you transform it into remembrance, then you're magnifying the person you lost and also giving something of that person to other people, so they can experience something of that person.                                                                                                                                         Patti Smith



Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.

                                                                                                                                                                                                Joseph Campbell

We were surprised one morning to see wild turkeys strutting their stuff right in front of our Oregon balcony — a decidedly non-wild urban area. They are certainly adaptable birds.



I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.                                                                                                                                             Wendell Berry

The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keep out the joy

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Jim Rohn

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May 4, 2025
It’s a Jungle Out There…

Not speaking metaphorically (at least not here on this blog) – only about the great outdoors. Specifically, several of our favorite nearby places to walk. They call them swamps or sloughs or just nature preserves around here, but they are about as close to a jungle as I'll ever get.

It's beautiful and quiet out there, but it can seem a little closed in — almost claustrophobic, especially to anyone used to wide open spaces.

But then you come to a clearing where the beautiful blue sky magically appears. Bright and clear, even when you look down.

And there are birds .. everywhere if you pay attention:

Look up:

There's a Florida Wood Stork looking like the King of the Hill!

Look Across:

Spot something bright red through all the greenery … It's a Red-Bellied Woodpecker finding a meal in an almost fallen tree.

Look Down:

A Green Heron patiently waits for dinner to swim by

Once in a great while, I'm even able to identify some of the plant life:

These are Resurrection Ferns — the top row looking their best (from April last year) and in the second row unresurrected in February this year. But they will come back — fittingly, right around Easter Time.

Yes, our Jungles are full of life and beauty when you look for it.

Tri-Colored Heron, Six Mile

Anhinga, Loop Road, Big Cypress

Limpkin, Six Mile

And of course if you're walking in the jungle, you better be looking down for your own safety, eek:

This is a Cotton Mouth, one of Florida's poisonous snakes. (We were actually on a Board Walk well above this sleeping creature. ) Too bad about the branch spoiling a perfect shot, but we certainly weren't about to move it.

One more picture to end on a pretty note. At first glance, Limpkins are an unassuming brown bird, but this close-up shot I think shows that they're quite handsome with their interesting feather pattern.

I'm grateful to have there are quite a few places near us conserving nature and animal life. I hope the work continues.

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March 30, 2025
Back again —

In our real (full-time) life we're back again at the Florida Canal Cottage. And back in blogland after too long an unexplained absence. I've always hated it when bloggers I follow disappear without a trace and I really wish I hadn't done the same exact thing. This post is my attempt to catch up a little bit. All pictures the are from the current season here in Florida. But not all the words.

I've missed blogging, but it has been hard to get started again. We've been busy since the last time I posted at the end of October, but honestly the real reason I haven't posted has more to do with the disastrous result of November's election. I've always thought of the blog as my "happy place" — where good memories are stored. Although I don't dwell on the state of the world every moment while we're living our lives, whenever I thought about putting a post together for the blog, it somehow seemed shallow to be chronicling only happy times when our whole country honestly seems to be falling apart.

Black-Crowned Night Heron at Ding Darling

He looks cranky, but I think its just because of the photographer and not because of the state of the world

I hate the feeling that there's really not much we can do. But wallowing in depression certainly isn't good for me or for anybody else, so I am back to chronicle the good memories and to share them with anybody who happens by. Even though I'm afraid the nation's problems aren't going away anytime soon, further posts will, I hope, be more about our personal life and less about worry.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming:

Looking up — at Six Mile Cypress Slough in Florida

We stayed at home in Oregon longer than usual this time, enjoying lots of happy times with our Oregon families including two of our "kids"* , our grown grandchildren, the five great-grands who live in Oregon, and even our grand-family of three from Europe who visited for almost a month while we were also in town. A big bonus was spending both Thanksgiving and Christmas with family, for the first time in quite a while.

Loop Road, Big Cypress

Another happy, but harder, kind of busy happened because we moved our Oregon "home-base" to a newly-opened independent senior community. We enjoyed our shiny new "lock and leave" home along with the amenities the community provides and look forward to taking even more advantage of those when we return this summer.

Roseate Spoonbills, White Pelicans and Night Heron at Ding Darling. Little Blue Heron at Six-Mile Cypress

Although feeling barely settled in our new Oregon digs, in early January we made our semi-annual cross-country migration. We spent the majority of that month opening the Canal Cottage and happily getting re-adjusted to the subtropical winter here in southwest Florida.

Green Heron, Big Cypress Refuge

We had a joyful week in February, when we had a visit from all three of our sons. They came from Colorado, Texas, and Oregon for a brothers' reunion and to see the old folks (and for two of them to visit us here in Florida for the first time.) We loved showing them around some of our favorite places. We missed our Oregon daughter and son-in-law and our daughters-in-law, but it was a delight to see our boys* all together. Almost all of the family pictures I took, both here and from Oregon are on my phone and somehow those don't seem to want to upload easily to the blog.

*All four of our children are old enough to be eligible for residence in our senior communities, although none of them are remotely interested in such a thing just yet. But it's sure a reminder of our own advanced age!

Great Egret in front of everybody's favorite (?) Florida icon in the background , at Big Cypress

It always seems to happen that we see several of one certain species whenever we go to one of our 'nature places.' The Black- Crowned Night Heron is that one so far this season, as we've seen at least one on every outing. Below is just one more picture of this pretty heron.

Black-Crowned Night Heron. Big Cypress

It's good to be back to blogging again . Thanks to everyone who reads, visits, comments, and hosts.

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March 14, 2025