Roaming

The weather is a bit uncooperative this morning, so instead of riding my bike, I think I'll do a little writing...

On Sunday, a friend of mine came by my booth, and during our conversation, she asked if I'd taken my eagle picture at Greenwood Cemetery? "No, actually, much closer to home," I replied. Of course, now the seed was planted, so, Monday, heading to Roger's house with my order,  I had to stop as I drive right by it on my way. Both of my parents are buried at Greenwood, however, I'm not much for visiting their graves, in fact, it's been so long I was surprised I found my way to it. In a crazy twist of fate, yesterday morning, out of the clear blue, Nancy asked me what day our Father died, and I couldn't answer properly even though I'd just seen his grave the day before. What a memory I have. To be fair it has been 30 years ago, but still. Anyway, as I drove through I did not see an eagle, however, I did see this

which is one of a kind in the cemetery as far as I could see. Very impressive indeed.

On my way to Leu Gardens I finally saw for myself this utility box:

A while back, maybe two years or so, the city began asking artists to decorate the boxes--a pretty bold move for Orlando. Over time, they are all being done by local artists, some good, some not so good. I took this photo through my windshield, so not the best, but you get the idea.

While visiting Leu Gardens, as I stood near this bamboo stand, a woman exclaimed to her husband about the green gekko which amused me because in our back yard we have what seems like hundreds of them. Apparently they are not so common in Massachusetts where they live!

I closed my last post by telling you I was headed down to the lake lot to see the fruits of Bruce's labor. Oh my, I haven't seen it look this good in years! While we had our Christmas visitors, we took a walk down to the lake and they will remember how Baxter had quite the time navigating the long grass. No longer will that be a problem.

Nancy asked me what I meant by the lake lot, so here's the scoop: every house on our street owns a portion of this narrow lot on Lake Jennie Jewell which was quite the selling point when we purchased our home. Now, when Bruce takes his kayak out on the water, he won't struggle to pull it through the long grass. He did just that last Friday, catching and releasing two bass. You can imagine he'll be doing more of that in the very near future.

A little visitor came yesterday morning:

For sure, it's a goldfinch. Typing this reminds me I need to buy more bird seed as they have been going through it like mad of late.

Then too, another visitor has been coming most days, mostly to drink water from the bird bath out front.

I have no idea who owns this cat--maybe no one because there is no collar?

Yesterday afternoon I went to the mall, specifically the Milenia mall. The misspelling is theirs, not mine. Apparently it has been a very long time since I went there, or I suppose actually walked through most of it, because when I went into the Coach store on the ground floor I was surprised at their location. Guess how long they have been there? Eight months! Many of the stores are moving around, and many more new ones are coming in. I keep wondering who is buying from the high end stores? Their window displays are worth the trip:

I always love the Channel window:

I see Prada and Yves St. Laurent are moving in along with others I can't recall. After my shopping I ate at Olive Garden across the street. Rarely do I eat dinner out alone, but I was just so mad at our newspaper for dissing OG, I went to see and taste it for myself. Eating local is all well and good, but the servers at OG get health insurance on day one which is unheard of in the restaurant business. As well, you always know what you are getting, unlike most of the local restaurants we patronize. Beth Kasab, a local columnist for the Sentinel, claimed young people would rather go elsewhere, which I'm sure is true up to a point. Funny thing is, most of the people I saw were young. Dave George, the former president of Longhorn has been moved over to OG, and no doubt he'll do some shaking up, but really, where else can you get unlimited soup and salad for dinner and it cost you $9.95? I watched as one young man went through four bowls of soup for that price! My food was yummy and my server pleasant and efficient.

My word, it seems as if the chilly winds have died down--I may just go on my ride after all.