A Full-time Life

Category: Florida

SMILES — REARRANGED

Nothing much new under the sun this week. Or actually under the rain and gray clouds. Rain is definitely needed, so I'm not feeling sad about it at all. And besides there are photo-worthy skies in the archives. Here are a few I re-arranged:

These six pictures are from four of our favorite states. Can you guess which? There's a hint (and an answer) at the end of this post.

No hint at the end about the above plant, but information from any experts is always welcome. It's fascinating that it has green flowers! There's a whole bed of them in a neighborhood garden I walked past last week.

Random soft color from a neighborhood walk before it started to rain.

When I said nothing much new happened last week, I meant in a blog-worthy way — the camera didn't get much of a workout. But things happened. We read, we walked, we ordered groceries, we cooked, "we" worked on getting our tiny trailer ready for some future trips …

And, as usual these days, we got a delivery or two. Now honestly, does every photo-blogger have a mental list of things they wish they'd snapped a picture of? My long list now includes the new mattress FedEx delivered last week. It arrived vacuum packed and rolled in a box light enough for the two of us to carry from the porch. Then we watched it magically inflate to a lovely 14"- thick queen-size as soon as the tight wrapping was removed. I wish I'd taken a picture of that! It's kind of amazing — sure beats the old way when a mattress purchase took two furniture store delivery persons . (Of course this time we had to move the old one ourselves — that was the harder part.)

One of these "wildflowers" is not like the other. Can you find it? Oh wow it's another puzzle. Every open space along the walking path is covered with these little jewels, in about the same proportion seen here. All so spring-like and pretty. I refuse to call them weeds.

This collection may help with the sky photo locations. These animals and birds are from the same four states as in the sky photo — re-arranged in the same order. (* see below link ups)

Thankful this week for the rain (but also kind of glad the sun has peeked through occasionally); for the new mattress that feels almost like it was custom-made for us; and for travel — both memories and future trips now in the early planning stages.

Linking this week to the following: Thank you to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; and SATURDAY CRITTERS

Top row L-R: Colorado, Florida, Oregon. Bottom row: Oregon, Colorado, Washington.

April 25, 2021
CHRISTMAS (and a New Year)

It is going to be a different Christmas this year and not only because it will be wet and gray here in Oregon. But there will be rainbows.

Cyndi's photo

Christmas Health Love and Cheer be in your hearts throughout the year

(Picture and Message from our daughter — taken and sent to us last week)

And there will be birds to watch — and maybe photograph if I'm lucky.

Seen on a walk to the river last Friday.

And there will be Christmas memories. Below are some of the most recent.

St Augustine, December 2019

Thank you to all who visit this blog and especially to those who leave comments. And thank you all for writing your own blogs. They are a year-long gift. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

LINKING TO the following with extra gratitude to the hosts of all of these sharing opportunities:

MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; TUESDAY TREASURES; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD ; WILD BIRD Wednesday ; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

December 20, 2020
HOPE and GRATITUDE

We have decided to head for home (in Oregon) a couple of months early, practicing social distancing while on the road. It's actually hard to know what the best thing to do is under the current circumstances — but when we weighed the options, this is what came out on top. So we've been getting ready to close up the Canal Cottage — a routine we go through every season, but usually not this early and usually not working this quickly. Obviously, none of the pictures in this post are new.

The sign is on a back-road in Big Cypress National Wildlife area. We did NOT turn around then and I hope we will not wish we had on this trip. Usually just keeping on works out pretty well for us.

These Spring Flowers are blooming in yards here in the Florida resort where we spend the Winter/Spring season. The pictures are from another year, but the same flowers (even the same potted plant) are blooming right now. Spring is different here, but we enjoy it. Most snowbirds go home in late March or early April. We enjoy the people, but also (in better years) the quiet after they leave. We'll miss that, but it will be good to be closer to family after this trip. I'm grateful we are able to travel between states.

These were two neighborhood baby eagles a couple of years ago. Actually, I guess, teenage eagles by this stage — shortly after I took this pictures, they flew the nest never to return. This year, the adult pair lost their first hatch and they now are incubating a second pair of eggs. If the first hatch had been successful, the young ones would be flying away right now. This pair has never had a second hatch before and like approximately a million other people worldwide, I'll be watching the webcam and hoping for success.

We usually do some Florida exploring in April and May. These are some of the birds we've seen on those trips in other years and were looking forward to seeing next month. I'm quite sure the lack of audience won't bother the birds one bit . Still, I hope we get to be among their fans again — in person – next year.

Sunset over the wetlands that border our neighborhood

We'll be practicing social distancing while on the road with our new (and very small) travel trailer. I hope to be able to keep in touch with other bloggers as we travel. It is comforting in the midst of all this to touch base. And to see the beauty that still exists in nature no matter what. And to read about how everybody is dealing with the social isolation and all the changes. Reading your blogs makes everything more "real" than the news stories.

(not my picture, not our trailer)

I'm grateful that we have a relatively safe way to cover the distance between here and Oregon (3,184 miles). And, as always, I'm beyond grateful to "the travel planner" for making it possible.)

And I'll really be grateful if that planner and I are still speaking to each other by the time we get the Canal Cottage closed up and hit the road! (We're definitely not practicing social distancing from each other right now as we work together in two small spaces! )

***

THANK YOU to all bloggers for keeping in touch with posts and comments — and as always thank you to the hosts of the following sharing opportunities (which I hope to be able to link to on the appropriate days):

MOSAIC MONDAY; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;   SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

March 29, 2020
KEEPING IN TOUCH …

… in the time of Corona Virus

The first day of Spring in this hemisphere happened last week — but it was kind of overshadowed by all that other news. I hope everybody was able to go outside for at least a breath of fresh air.

We are using technology to keep in touch during the isolation — but for us that really isn't all that different than ever, since we are so far away from family. Just that it is even more important these days.

The Blue Jay pictures above are mine — taken near home (the Florida one) on the first day of Spring. The rest of the pictures were texted to me from further away — also on the first day of Spring. I'm grateful that all of our families are well and able to go outside and breath some fresh air.

The first two below are from Oregon:

A Rhododendron blossom from our daughter and son-in-law's yard.

(in Oregon)

We didn't venture far from home last week. Nature parks and beaches (and restaurants) are closed here. We kept busy — working on the Canal Cottage project and spending some time assessing our various traveling options in light of the current situation. (Traveling back to our home in Oregon — nothing more exotic than that needless to say.)

Cyndi and Jeff's beautiful Black Walnut Tree and the Spring garden under it

The next picture came from our son in Colorado. Their back yard (taken on, may I remind you, the first day of spring). It's definitely an outlier among the blue skies and spring flowers:

Colorado people are strong and healthy and happy in all kinds of weather though (aren't they?) – and anyway, by now, it's highly possible that the snow has melted and the sun is shining.

My sister sent the next picture from a walk in the park near her Seattle home. Our oldest son who lives in that corner of Washington State also texted that he spent the weekend working in their yard.



Perfect Spring Days in the Pacific Northwest! (except for the you-know-what). As the old song said "The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle" – it should have added "when it's not raining." (That is also true for our corner of Oregon .)

(from Oregon)

Don't forget to keep in touch with those you love.

And go outside to play as often and as long as you can.

Thank you to our family for essentially writing this post. It would have been a boring blog with just one picture of a Blue Jay.

Linking to the following: Thank you hosts!!!!

MOSAIC MONDAY; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

March 22, 2020
BURROWING OWLS OF CAPE CORAL 2020

Like probably just about everybody else in the world, especially those in our age demographic, we spent a lot of time last week trying to make sense of the corona virus news and thinking about our options. And touching base with everybody we love. As always, in good times or not-so-good, being outside improves my mood. (And it's an approved activity as long as it's done only in small groups.))

Our neighbor friends told us they had never seen any of Cape Coral's burrowing owls, so we took them on a photo safari around the Cape's maze of streets and canals to some of our favorite places to find these adorable ground-nesters.

Burrowing owls are diurnal — that is that unlike most owl species they are out and about in the daytime. It's a little bit early in the season — by the end of April or May, we will see whole families out by the burrows. Here's a LINK to one of my posts from another year that provides more information.

We need a little color too — so from the archives here are some typical Florida Spring flowers. Gardens are showier and more flamboyant here in the subtropics than what we remember (fondly) from our gardening days in Oregon. Oddly, I found these in the same photo file as some owls from a few years ago — I was searching to see what month it was when I got wonderful pictures of the owl babies. (It was May). And sorting my photo files is obviously something I need to do (and maybe I will – if we end up being quarantined and I get seriously bored.)

Beautiful Florida sky — this one is also from the archives.

I'm grateful this week for weather that allows us get outside — and I'm especially grateful for cell phones and texting — technology that allows us to stay in close and instant touch even though we're far away from family.

Sweet Dreams!

May we all sleep as easily and well as this little guy.

Linking this week to the following:

MOSAIC MONDAY; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; SAY CHEESE; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

THANK YOU to all of the hosts!

March 15, 2020
TARPON BAY and LOCAL EAGLES

Drove to Sanibel Island one day this week — battling heavy in-season traffic all the way! Everybody wants to go to the beach. We forget that fact at least once a year. This time, we also forgot that the wildlife drive in Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge is closed on Friday. (We go to the Island to see birds, not to lie around on the beach).

Royal Tern

So our outing plans took a small "tern" and we hopped on one of the Refuge's pontoon boats for a Tarpon Bay nature cruise.

The Tarpon Bay Estuary is also part of the Wildlife Refuge — we boated past several Rookery Islands (where the birds looked like white flowers from the distance — that's all the closer the boat got, for the safety of the boat and even more important for the welfare of the birds.) The Mangrove trees are important for so many reasons. They provide habitat for wildlife and a natural barrier against wind and storms for animals and people on land.

Brown Pelican

While the Royal Tern claimed Mile Marker 15, Post #21 belonged to this napping Brown Pelican. We saw other terns, gulls, cormorants, egrets, ospreys, and pelicans on posts and on the edges of the water — it was a windy day though and with the motion of the boat (and shaky hands on the photographer) , pictures were hard to come by.

I took the above picture on the causeway as we headed off the Island toward home. Note the blowing palm tree at the bottom … it was a a good day for the wind-surfers!

We're fortunate to have a variety of natural places that are easy to get to for day trips. Some are even closer — on another day at home last week, I stopped at the Eagle Pasture on the way to do errands:

I saw at least 50 Cattle Egrets, plenty of small birds, and several very pretty horses. And only a tiny glimpse of an Eagle's head peeking out of the nest. (The nest tree is the skinny slash pine in the center picture (center of the center picture). No Eagle pictures this time, but as always, it is a nice little nature stop on a day otherwise dedicated to mundane activities. The pasture is right across the street from a supermarket shopping center and on the way to just about every other place we have to go to routinely.

The pictures below are from the archives. Two years ago I had much better photographer's luck with these neighbors.

Our Eagle nest — 2018

And our pair of Eagles had better luck also that year, successfully raising a pair of Eaglets. The lower three pictures are that year's "babies" — just ready to fledge and (in the center) actually flying away for the first time.

This year, sadly, only one of the pair's eggs hatched and that baby died from what was later discovered to be from ingesting rat poison. Adult Bald Eagles will take both living and dead prey — fish, birds, small mammals). Now, at about the time their nestlings would usually be fledging, the pair are incubating a second hatch — two more eggs. This is very late for this climate, so it remains to be seen what happens. There is a very active webcam site for this pair, so you can watch the progress from wherever you live! There are a lot of ads on the site, but the camera angles are good and there are links to several informative sites. Just google Southwest Florida Eagle cam. It's a good and easy way to learn about these iconic birds.

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities. Thank you to all of the hosts:

MOSAIC MONDAY; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday;  SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

March 8, 2020
HARNS MARSH

Little Blue Heron

We went to Harns Marsh Nature Preserve one day last week. It's a good place to walk but definitely not to do the"Forest Bathing" that I mentioned in last week's post. Harns is flat land that the County has reclaimed for flood control. It is marshy during the rainy season, but here in SW Florida, that is during the summer. Trails this time of year are easily accessible.

A Snowy Egret (Yellow Slippers) waited patiently for a fish to show up. The middle picture is the same Little Blue as above, not zoomed or cropped. And showing the odd place it perched — nowhere near the water. The bird is perched on some of the flood control equipment.

Great Egret

A Great Egret amidst blooming Bidens Alba. We didn't see as many birds at Harns as we have on previous visits. Last time, we watched Limpkins eating their meals of apple snails (pretty much their entire diet). The pictures below are from that visit.

Limpkins

All we saw this time was empty snail shells (like in the middle picture). So we know the Limpkins had been there, but on this day they were somewhere else.

Bald Eagles

These two are also from our last visit to the Marsh — these are not the ones that live down the street from us who have their own webcam. It's been a bit sad at that nest this year and so I haven't stopped by to take pictures. (Update in a future post I hope.)

It was a pretty day for a walk even if we didn't see a great many birds. I definitely think the concept of "Forest Bathing" should be re-titled to something that includes Marshes, Sloughs, River Banks, and Deserts. The important thing is to get outside and enjoy nature.

I'm grateful to be able to do exactly that wherever we are.

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities. Thank you to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

March 1, 2020
OUTSIDE AGAIN — on land and water



Morning at the Caloosahatchie Nature Preserve.

This County Park is next door to the snowbird resort where we live here in Florida. This majestic Live Oak tree marks the start of a walking path through the Preserve. Live Oaks are fairly common in this part of the country – its acorns are great food for wildlife.

I have read a little recently about "Forest Bathing", the concept of immersing yourself in quiet natural surroundings. I agree that a walk in nature brings calm and joy. It's a different kind of forest here in SW Florida — foliage is low and except for the few Live Oaks on the edge of this preserve, the trees are thin and sparse compared to the forests of the Pacific Northwest. But it is green and quiet. (And certainly warmer here this time of year.) So it works for me.

Mocking Bird

Although this mockingbird posed beautifully along the path, on this walk I heard many more songbirds than I saw — and certainly more than I could photograph. Some I didn't even try to take pictures of were the dozens and dozens of robins I saw and heard in a clearing. Robins are extremely common where we're from in Oregon, but those were the first ones I'd seen here in Fort Myers. It's migration time — I guess they were headed back "up North."

Even though I've walked the paths in this preserve many times, there is always something new to see. Like those robins or these interesting fungi growing on a fallen tree along the pathway. In past seasons, I walked here more often because the park could be accessed from the back of our resort via a short path. This year, apparently for security reasons, the gateway to the path has been locked off. This makes it pretty far to walk to the park from home and would mean a walk along the busy street in front of the resort. So now we have to drive to the visitor parking area like everybody else, which is kind of a bummer after years of feeling like the Preserve was part of our own backyard. But it is still close enough to do often.

On another day last week, we took part in the Boat Club's February outing and lunch. It was nice to get out on the River again.

The picture above is our Canal, taken from the back of our boat just as we got out into the Caloosahatchie. Our Boat hasn't gotten a whole lot of use yet this season — either because of stormy weather, projects keeping the Captain busy, or being sick. Or all of the above. It was a lovely day for this event and nice to get back outside.

The next day was stormy again — heavy wind and some rain. We were lucky that Thursday, the scheduled date for the boating event, was such a good one! It's nice weather again this weekend. We are thankful for that and looking forward to more playing outside — on land or water — in the weeks to come.

Linking this week to the following sharing opportunities:

Thank you to all of the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; and SATURDAY CRITTERS

February 23, 2020
THE JOY OF ORDINARY DAYS

Skies are blue, the sun is shining, and my cold is gone!

Sky view from our front yard Sunday morning.

A bit of "off" time is a good reminder to be grateful for the joys of every-day life.

Lots of Vitamin C at the local Farm Market. No wonder I feel better! All of these crops are growing here right now. Hard to remember sometimes that it is still Winter.

Bill's about a week behind me in getting over that summer Winter cold, so we didn't go far from home at all last week. I stopped by Butterfly Garden on my way to the Farm Market. Lots of butterflies, but it was too late in the day (too warm) to get good photographs. They were too flitty — you have to go before it warms up to get them when they're sitting still.

All of these flowers are good food for the butterflies. Most are native plants for this area.

Dune Sunflower

The demonstration garden is meant to encourage people to plant to provide habitat for butterflies and bees. It's a part of Manatee Park on the Orange River. Manatees gather here when the weather is cooler, because the river water here is warmed by output from the nearby power plant.

Blanket Flower

This time of year, the Manatees are out in the Rivers at least during the day. The water there is warm enough for them now.

Blue Mist Flower

I try to learn the names of wildflowers, but I have a long ways to go.

Orange River at Manatee Park

Our River water is coffee or tea colored. This is from the mangroves, which are an important part of the ecological system.

February's snow moon — certainly mis-named for this part of the country. The pictures are from our porch. I was still under-the-weather the week the moon was full and that was about as far as I got. I was happy to have the view and the warmth then, but am even more grateful to be well for it!

Linking this week to the following:

THANK YOU to all of the hosts!!

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February 16, 2020
FLORIDA WINTER

Six-Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, Fort Myers

It was a beautiful day for walking Friday at Six-Mile Cypress Preserve. Birds were a little scarce, but I had fun chasing woodpeckers around their trees (with my camera, from a good distance). I saw red-bellies (the one above) and downies. Also lots of warblers flitting about including a very nice sighting of a black-and-white (but no pictures), and a hawk or two.

So, yes, Friday was a good walking day — but it was cold (for Florida) earlier last week. How cold was it, you ask? It was so cold ….

Obviously not my picture. I (virtually) clipped it from a website

…. that the Iguanas fell out of the trees. Iguanas become cold-stunned when the temperature drops into near-freezing. Their breathing slows and they enter a state of torpor which causes them to lose muscle control. They live in trees and when that happens to them, they fall. People are reminded not to pick them up or move them — they are not dead and when it warms up, they'll be off and running — well, moving anyway.)

This is an original — from my Florida archives –an Agama lizard, not an Iguana

But it wasn't really quite that cold here — we live in NW Florida and although we woke up to temperatures in the low 40s on a couple of days, it never actually got down to freezing here on the Canal. Still a little chilly in the mornings, but the sun warms things up during the day. I don't think our lizards had much to complain about. Neither did we.

Wood Duck Pond, Six-Mile

Like all reptiles, alligators don't generate their own heat. When it gets below 70 (F) they've already slowed down and stopped feeding. In really cold weather, they will burrow into a den in the bank and go dormant until it warms up. They can even live under ice while in a dormant state (according to Google — I've never seen an alligator where there was ice. And don't want to.)

Wood Duck Pond

The Alligator on Wood Duck Pond was sharing the same log with other critters — quite a group of turtles and an Anahinga drying its wings at the other end. (It was just a little above 70 degrees — all critters were safe!)

Brown Anole at Six-Mile

It's rather reptile-heavy around the blog today, isn't it? Apologies to those who think they're a little creepy. Personally I find them fascinating in all their prehistoric glory. But I wouldn't get real close to the larger ones. This brown anole is definitely not one of the large variety.

Through the magic of a zoom lens, it's possible to get better pictures — but it can also distort our perception of size. This guy is very tiny — about the size of my little finger. That Alligator above was around eight feet long. The Agama Lizard in my archival shot was probably around a foot.

Cypress Knees in the Slough

There was a lot of water in the slough — and that's a good thing. The Cypress Knee families were happy. (They look to me like hobbit people.)

Six-Mile is one of my favorite places. It's part of the reason we have been happy to come back for all these years — the natural beauty of this State (so green) is not what people who have never been here usually think of when they think of Florida. We certainly learned quickly that the Pacific Northwest doesn't have an exclusive corner on emerald green nature.

The same patch of sky — looking down and looking up.

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities: Thank you to all of the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY; ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS; OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY ; WANDERING CAMERA; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING

January 26, 2020