12 Oakdale

  Happy autumnal equinox and the first day of fall (I had to look up if seasons are capitalized, although I suspect by now most of our English grammar and punctuation rules have gone by the wayside.)  For the past week, night temperatures have been below 75°. Back up to burning blazes during the day, but I can actually feel the weather changing. So different from South Florida. Time to plant tomatoes and trim the tropical sage. Saturday, we went birding with Brady, the last of my purchases from Orange Audubon’s auction. Getting up at 4:45, we met Brady at the St Cloud Publix, transferred his gear to our truck, and headed for our first visit to Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area. On the way in, a family of caracara: mom and dad sitting atop a telephone pole with 2 juveniles foraging in the fields. The rest of the day we drove higher and yon, looking for red cockaded and red headed woodpeckers, success with both.  27°55'50.0"N 81°07'33.8"W for RCWO; 27°54’55”.3N, 81°...

Feeling like being run over by the proverbial Mack truck after getting the Covid booster shot yesterday, but thankful this is available for us old people. Our appointments at Publix had to be rescheduled from the previous day, because Grant had infections in two fingers and needed to see a doctor. Before we went to South Florida, I created a garden tunnel of pig wire and my anti-bird netting. This was to keep the rabbit I’ve seen from eating my new corn plants. I weighted down the edges with bricks. When we came back, no bunnies in the corn, but a dead black racer snake was tangled in the netting. My first thought was to lay the net out in the yard and let the ants eat away. That idea stank. Next plan, hang the net off the dock, so the fish could nibble. Good idea until I saw a big turtle investigating. I couldn’t face have it also caught. I hauled the netting up and only let a little part with the snake pieces hang in the water, then I obsessed all night. There wasn’t much snake gone ...