Florida
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Battle of the Bulls
We were at Dinner Island WMA on Sunday afternoon, driving around with our friends Randy and Kathy, when through the cattle pasture we heard this high pitched noise. Eventually we came up to the two bulls making the noise, in the midst of what seemed like a territory war of some sort, or maybe one was miffed the other took his gal. Who knows, but it was hilarious to watch them! Check out the puffs of steam coming out of his mouth—see it was cold here! Lots of throwing of dirt…it was great entertainment! The photo challenge is up over at Meghan’s blog: Strangers on the Street. I know there…
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BRRRRR!
My brother asked me last night how I liked the cold weather. I replied that I was ready for it to go away. He’s in Texas where they’ve had more snow than I can remember this past month. A month ago I would have enjoyed it, the holiday season, etc. But, it’s just too cold for me now! Yes, living in gardening zone 10B, where we push the tropical zone limits and enjoy all sorts of beautiful plants that love warmth and humidity, has made my blood too thin. I’m the iguana that hangs onto the tree, hoping not to fall off when it gets too cold. I’ve almost gone…
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Sanibel Sunset
Until I get the comments working again, I’ve put in my old commenting system that you can use. I’m finally trying to finish up our Christmas weekend trip to Sanibel. Here are the sunset photos from the day after Christmas. All but the last were taken at Blind Pass, the pass between Sanibel and Captiva islands. The last was taken at the last public access beach on Captiva. This one is Chris’. I like it…very wild and untamed look to it. I always feel a little reluctant to leave the beach after a sunset like that—a sad goodbye to a great day.
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Sunset—New Years Eve on Turner River Road
I know, comments aren’t working. boo on you wordpress…trying to get up up and running soon. Chris and I got off early on New Years Eve and decided to hit Big Cypress National Preserve to capture the last sunset of the decade. We also were aiming for photos of the Blue Moon but were unsuccessful due to clouds in the east that prevented a decent moon rise from being seen. The only glimpse we saw was for a few minutes but it was still partially hidden between the clouds. By the time it was up and shining, it was dark and we couldn’t find a decent place to take a…
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Samson and his Snuggie
Samson hasn’t made a post here in awhile, so today I decided to capitalize on the fact he was looking adorably sweet on the bed with the Snuggie. I got the Snuggie in a gift exchange at work and the instant I brought it home it was stolen from me by Leo and Samson and immediately it became theirs. See, all warm and toasty in the Snuggie. Chris and I were both off today for dentist appointments and when we came back in the house after being out a few times we found both Leo and Samson snuggling together on the blanket. It was 56* in the house this morning—still…
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Florida Trail: Hickory Hammock to Hicks Slough (Avon Park Air Force Range)
This weekend, like last year, we went on a backpacking trip. This year we started off at the Hickory Hammock Florida Trail trail head on U.S. 98 between Sebring and Bassinger with the intentions of just walking north until we felt like turning around to come home. We got a late start on Friday after sleeping in a bit and then driving the two hours north. Before we left we checked the weather and weren’t too pleased with the forecast—rain and then a cold front right behind it. It didn’t start raining until we entered Lake Placid at nearly lunch time. We took some back roads to get to the…
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Shore (Love) Birds
The Wanderers on Sanibel.
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Heaven is a Place on Earth
Ok, so the title is slightly kitchy, but it came to me as Belinda Carlisle was singing to me on the way home from work today. Sanibel is heaven on Earth. It is one of the places that furthered my interest in marine biology growing up. We went to Sanibel and Fort Myers beach for vacation a few years when I was growing up and we loved it. I always thought when I moved to Florida that I would be living over there, but we never have. I hardly ever get to go, maybe once a year; it’s a good two hour drive from the house and we are often…
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Morning at Corkscrew
When we left Marc and Eliana’s house on Friday night we decided we’d meet them at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary at 7am on Saturday morning. From our house it is about an hour and a half drive and from theirs, add at least another forty-five minutes. We weren’t exactly bright eyed and bushy-tailed when we got there. It was early. Chris and I arrived first and hit the boardwalk after I downed the majority of my coffee since disposable materials aren’t allowed on the boardwalk. He set out for the cypress dome and I wanted to see what I could come up with in the fog that had rolled in across…
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I wish I was…
…still doing the Sanibel Stoop. And when you can’t stoop any longer, find a nice mound of shells, sit down and dig right in. We had an awesome weekend that continued from Marc and Eliana’s house over to the west coast at Sanibel and Cayo Costa State Park. I have so many photos to go through—I’ll have plenty to write about this week!