I Should Be Sleeping

Alas, I am not. Baxter is normally perfectly happy to sleep as long as I want. This morning however, he decided that 4:30AM was a good time to go out. Hmmm....try as I might, I could not go back to having

--- instead I got to work, putting clothes in the washer, and cleaning up my desk. I know, if I kept it neat daily that chore would not loom it's ugly head, but, what can I say? It gets messy, or at least by my standards.

When your birthday falls in late December, not only is it largely ignored, but it means all sorts of things must be updated, including my radiology licenses and my car tag. I've not taken care of the car tag yet, but I'm happy to report that both my National and State licenses are a done deal. Who knows if I'll ever use them again, but for now, I'm keeping them current.

After a fine session with the artists yesterday I took a few moments to photograph at Park Lake which is across the street from FAVO. Isn't that a pretty name--Park Lake? There is a lovely dock and some benches surrounding the lake along with water fowl and a Great Blue Heron who didn't seem to mind one bit that I stood on the bench over him taking photographs. His only interests seemed to be preening. GBH are such elegant birds, nearly as fine as a Sand Hill Crane.

Those are Cypress tree knobs for those unfamiliar with Cypress trees. Here's a nice fat duck taking off after having had a little rest between the knobs.

Talk about a ripple effect!

Although my bird feeders are not seeing the normally robust activity I've become accustomed to, I have been seeing some birds. I think it was last Friday while putting away the Thanksgiving dishes and washing what was left over, I heard some pretty loud tapping sounds. My goodness it was a Pileated Woodpeck way, way up in the Laurel Oak tree in the front yard making all that racket. So high up he was that my Nikon, despite using my longest lens, could not do it justice. Instead I turned to my Panasonic FZ7 which has a very long zoom capability:

Still not a great shot but for our purposes I think it will suffice. I told Bruce that I thought it seemed about a foot long and how about those claws? Sadly, after giving me great service for five years, I think my Panasonic has seen its best days; no longer will the battery hold a charge for more than a few pictures. These days a five year old camera is like a dinosaur, however, I will still keep it in my camera arsenal, if only for the sentimental value.

That same day a Northern Mockingbird came to visit:

 Cute little bugger!

Monday afternoon a trip to Sun Dance with new photos, and Costco for a few things, was on my agenda. You should have seen me in the Costco parking lot as I came out with my purchases. The sky, just before sunset, was looking so awesome that after putting my stuff in the Pilot, I grabbed my camera and started walking towards an unobstructed view. It's a wonder I didn't get run over as my eyes were glued to the sky!

So very glad there was nothing to report in the Sentinel such as "Local Photographer Run Down While Chasing Sunset!"

Matt called yesterday to Face Time while Corrine was visiting to see the new appliances. Did I mention she'll be turning 87 in two weeks? Ever the Alabama girl, she dresses every day in smart clothes, matching her earrings and nail polish. I'm sure she'd never seen anything like it when I showed her Matt on the phone! She agreed with me that he is darn handsome!

I guess I'm like all Mothers when talking to their grown sons--it seems like I monopolize the conversation, however, I do try and keep anecdotes about people he doesn't know to a minimum. We did have a nice little chuckle about the half-bearded, recently deceased, Orlandoan. Three weeks and he and Tom will be here enjoying the sunshine!

What I'd meant to be doing was a gift inventory. I'm about half way there as all the gifts are covering my sewing table, soon to be recorded in a list of what I have and what I need. Perhaps I'll get really ambitious and do some wrapping?

The sun is up and my bike awaits.....