12 Oakdale

After we picked up Peg at Port Canaveral from her Blue Grass and Bahamas cruise, we toured Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. At first, the usual suspects of herons and egrets, with some roseate spoonbills and glossy ibis thrown in. Rafts of coots and a few common gallinules. Some not particularly big gators. At one spot, one white pelican amongst the dowitchers and skimmers.  I saw a Virginia rail when we stopped at one of the bird blinds. When we drove down Marsh Pond Road, we saw one black scoter,  a new bird for both Peg and me, and rare this far south. I had looked at eBird hot spots for the 4 flamingos blown in by Hurricane Ian. Less than 20 hours before, they were reported near the Haulover Canal. We tried along the south shore but couldn’t see where the canal met the river. Back into the car to drive along the other side. There at the end were 2 birders with scopes. The flamingos were visible with our binoculars over at an island. Success! Next to them were sever...

We were 23 miles from dropping Peg at her cruise ship in Port Canaveral, when the truck’s “low fuel” indicator came on. We had 20 miles of gas left, on 528, in the middle of nowhere. Grant had forgotten to fill up when he went grocery shopping, and I didn’t think to check the gauge before we left.  Usually I cherish this last unbuilt area of Central Florida. Now, not so much. Fortunately, with Google Map’s help, Peg found a set of gas stations just one exit south of the 528 and I95 intersection. We rolled into the BP with 3 miles to spare. Who needs cardio exercises when we can just scare our hearts into racing? All good. We’d given ourselves plenty of time to have lunch at Grills before she left on her bluegrass cruise to the Bahamas. Grant and my trip back to Windermere was less eventful, and I certainly will be sure the truck is fueled up before we pick her up on Friday. Saturday I volunteered at our ToW Tree Board’s annual tree giveaway, stationed where we actually load the tre...

I thought about running Saturday, but fortunately it rained. Sunday we were the morning shift of ambassadors at LAWD. I briefly thought about jogging when we got home, but came to my senses. Monday, MLK Day, we decided to actually visit LAWD, so were up and out too early for any jogging. Whew. Early this morning, I heard rain, but by the time it was light, even though the skies were still gray, there was no rain and no reason to avoid my run. I am at the last outing of Week 4 in my second time through the Couch to 5K app. It’s getting tougher and isn’t as novel; I need to be wary of calling it quits. I remind myself I am grateful I can still jog. I’ve also packed on pounds through my thorough enjoyment of Christmas cookies and candies. Time to bite the bullet, not Hersey’s Kisses. It’s 5 weeks until my next 5K. Easy enough to gnaw off 5 pounds with the old eat-less-exercise-more. I’m still convinced that eventually scientists will find that lying on the couch, eating potato chips is th...

I threw any sense out the door and signed up for Janet Rogers’ 2-day watercolor portrait workshop. As Lynda from the Art Room said, it would be an opportunity for me to be challenged. What the hey, I’d learn something, and it could be fun. I did, and it was. Our job before class was to draw the 2 assigned portraits, each on a 11” X 15” sheet of 140# cold pressed watercolor paper. First step for me was to buy said sheets. I was able to purchase an 22” x 30” sheet, $10.75, at Sam Flax Art Supply. Then I just had to get up the nerve to fold it into fourths and gently tear along the folds. Success, although my palms were pretty sweaty. Next task: draw. I’d printed the portraits out and superimposed a grid so I could sketch the sections. Wait, the printer paper and the watercolor sheets weren’t the same proportions. Wouldn’t that distort my painting? I ascertained the width to length ratios were 0.73 and 0.77 respectively. That would be the least of my worries. I lightly drew a grid on my w...

At my Friday watercolor class at Leu Gardens, (13 people), I realized Kathy, a dear friend of my dear friend, was sitting at the table behind me. Not really that unexpected; she and her husband had moved into her father’s Orlando house and renovated it after the old man had died. Caught up on our respective children and made real promises to get together. They live on the east side, but doable. We will see each other at our mutual friend’s son’s celebration of life in February. Note: the technique we tried in class was coloring with white crayon to make places where the watercolor couldn’t attach to the paper, in this case, as snow on the trees. Since I couldn’t see where the wax was once I drew, it was a surprise where the snow appeared. I’m not sure this technique is for me. Sunday, Susie and Joe came to lunch. La Leche League, homeschoolers, Clara daycare, they were a constant in our younger Fort Lauderdale lives, they too now live in Central Florida. We caught up on children, grand...

We celebrated Epiphany by putting away our Christmas decorations. We were supposed to be ambassadors at LAWD, but it began raining in the night and continued all morning. Not weather that encourages first time visitors. I had my own epiphany: rather than put away all the decorations with the idea that I’d go through them in the fall (hasn’t happens the past 2 years, even though on the calendar), why not decide which ones I want to keep and box the rest up for donation? Aha!  I cleared our dining room table for the discards. I was ruthless. Out went all the shiny balls, even the ones from the 50’s and 60’s I’d collected. We aren’t having Christmas trees anymore so they aren’t needed. I had a moment of possible tears for our past, a brief wish we were still young with children at home. Sigh. We aren’t, life is good now too. The martini glasses with hand-pained Rudolph’s: gone. Box of large jingle bells I have used once: out. So on and so forth.  By the time I was done, we had on...

Our second time to Bear River refuge, this time with heavy fog and frost-covered plants. We opted to visit the welcome center first to let the day warm up. The walk in was icy, so we trod very carefully. Fabulous display including a restored airboat. Who knew these were invented here in 1943 by researchers who needed to get through the marshes more easily while studying geese. I always assumed airboats were good ole boys’ toys from the Everglades or bayous down south. Once the sun came out, the fog lifted and the frost disappeared. We slowly drove the auto tour, looking for swans but seeing gulls, lots of gulls. And hundreds to thousands of female red winged blackbirds. Finally, off in the distance, there were swans and Canada geese, too far away to identify other species. Another reason to travel with the scope.  On the drive in we saw 2 maybe 3 northern harriers cruising the fields, 2 rough-legged hawks sitting in a tree, 6 great blue herons flying over, and a kestrel hunting. As...

We received an email from our friend Rob that he and Deb’s son Sean had died in his sleep early Saturday morning. Rob’s amazing, beautiful letter said they had had a nice evening playing cards with their granddaughter, then Sean said he didn’t feel well and asked to be put to bed.  The same age as Patten, he had caught/developed multiple sclerosis when he was a preteen. It robbed him of what we would consider the normal parts of a young man’s life. No sports, no easy trips, much medical intrusion and loss of privacy. He must have been angry at his fate, however he maintained his curiosity and kindness.  I think the last time we saw him was when Betsy was visiting, and we stayed at Hollywood Beach. They drove down, and we picnicked at Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park. 

Well, that was an underwhelming New Year’s Eve. Since it was Sunday night, no college bowls to watch. In the NFL, the Greenbay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings, 33-10. Never a doubt as to who would win.  After, I wanted to see the ball drop in Times Square. As we struggled with the TV streaming service here, I got out my iPad and watched Paul Anka sing John Lennon’s “Imagine”. Then, it was time for the count down. The glittery ball was not impressive on an 11” screen, but 2024 was here. At least on the East Coast. Since we’re on Mountain Standard Time, it was only 10:00 PM. However, the household is on baby time, as well it should be, so we followed Molly and Spaulding to bed. Maybe a champagne toast today. My 2023 resolution was to catch up and stay caught up on reading my magazines, which I did. There are a couple of new ones waiting for me to come home, but I’ve developed a satisfying routine of reading an article in one or two each morning, What to do this year? I’m enjoying ...