Mating Swans and More!

Well, well, well.

Generally I write about things in order, but since the title is so provocative, let us begin with the swan photos. Monday morning we took a walk around Lake Eola for fun. As most of you well know, I spent eight plus years there, selling photography at the Sunday market, taking hundreds of photos while there. Maybe thousands? Who knows? At any rate, never once did I see what we saw which began with a hunch as I noticed from afar, two swans swimming quite close together.

There was just something about them that caused me to wonder if they were a couple, and sure enough, as we drew closer, indeed, I was pretty certain that some sparks would soon begin to fly.

By the way, there are a number of photos of this event upcoming. Video probably would have been better. Anyway, it isn't everyday that swans behave like the above, so I kept my camera focused on the two of them who put on quite the show. Before long, he climbed on her back,

At one point she was really pinned down, keeping her head underwater. Before you go wondering how birds procreate, here's a brief explanation by some experts.  For the record, we were not embarrassed, merely fascinated watching the wonders of nature so close. Once finished, it was even more fun seeing them,

then they did this,

followed, soon thereafter, by swimming apart and preening. Pretty cool, right? It is times like this that I am so delighted I carry a zoom lens around!

Backing up, Saturday morning, there was a lovely gathering of women at our church, organized by Lisa in the pink gingham shirt.

Sixty women, which is a lot considering the size of the congregation, listened to inspiring speakers after a delicious breakfast. From there I went over to visit with Maureen who, I was delighted to discover, was sitting in a wheelchair, fully dressed. Let's go outside Maureen! Her first taste of fresh air in over two months happened last week when Lisa took her outside. Can you imagine?

Before long though, she was ready to return to the 3rd floor for lunch. We came across an empty spot at a table with two ladies and I asked if we could join them. Please do! One lady was 95, and aside from hearing loss, seemed quite competent. The other, at 90, was a little less so, but what really struck me during our conversation is the surprising number of people living into their 90's these days. Not a one of them can really say why they have lived so long. Such a mystery.

The youth of our church put on the Sunday service and wowed us with both their capabilities and their decorations. I later learned the colorful garlands were tie-died coffee filters.

Much to my surprise, the fellow on the left side of the photograph came to greet me. And who is he you ask? A former market vendor! I had not seen him in years, and was happy that he and his partner were visiting the church.

Although it was blazing hot Sunday afternoon, I took a walk during which time I remembered why it was so easy to walk in Vancouver---no heat! Our normal winter temperatures are about as hot as it gets there. Nevertheless, I carried on, coming upon an Osprey having lunch atop a light pole.

Oops, I forgot a couple others from Lake Eola I wanted to share. New bike racks:

Ducklings, although it is hard to tell with all of the fallen oak leaves!

Neither of us can figure out if this purple paint was intentional or not, but we are pretty sure the little stool things are intentional. Neither should be as far as we are concerned.

The fountain resembles a candle wax covered Chianti bottle, while the blue color is just plain ugly.

But, I did see some breeding Egrets as evidenced by their green mask and tail feathers.

Fear not, in my next post there will be some closeup shots of Egrets at Kraft Azalea Gardens.

If you've been wondering about the inner workings of a range, wonder no longer!

The Whirlpool repair guy was great, asking me if I had further questions and in fact, I did. Teach me about cleaning the dishwasher filter please? It was easy as can be once I was shown what to do and how often. Once a month, he said. Apparently we are his first customer that have Sunset Bronze and he was thrilled seeing them in place. Me too.

Ruthless. That's the word we are using to describe how we will have to behave if we are ever going to be able to give up our storage unit. While not terribly expensive, the rent is more than our utility bill. We paid a visit on Tuesday morning, bringing home some boxes including one large box labeled, "Matthew's Mementoes." I'm presuming he left this collection with us when he moved to London. My goodness! Annoyingly, I sent him photo after photo showing him things, and wondering what he wanted to keep. Most all of it was his response.

The large box is on the nearby table. Somehow, I managed to fit a good bit of it in the pictured tub that once held my photography prints. :(

One way that happened is because I threw away all of his negatives and empty rolls of film, consolidating all his photographs into a few large envelopes. It got me thinking of how much life has changed, even for a young person, a relative term I know, but when you think that Matt will be 43 in July, compared to Lorraine (95) at Westminster, he is young. I, too, was once young, as evidenced by a letter I came across that I wrote to Matt while he was a sophomore in college, signing it, "your almost 40 year old Mom"

I bought myself the cutest birdhouse imaginable at Ross yesterday.

Now you can see why it was irresistible! As our the sunsets here. It is hard to get enough of them. Those sun rays!

Not tonight though. The clouds have moved in and rain is expected shortly.

Please continue your prayers for both Maureen and Carol. No good news to report.

your friend,

Gail

p.s. If you want to see some incredible nature photographs, click here and prepare to be amazed.