14 More Weeks to Go!

While I haven't done the counting myself, a landscaper we talked to on our morning walk today said he manages working in the heat just that way. "Only 14 more weeks!", he proclaimed. God bless those folks who do work in this stifling heat. And, not very long after publishing my last post, we saw the last of rain for five days and counting. This guy appeared on our front walk the morning following our last rainfall.

Nature is so darn amazing, isn't it?

Last Friday our plan was to go to Cocoa Beach and it was a good one, that is until we ran into a problem. Leaving the property, the tire light came on, not something you want to see when you plan on driving 110 miles. WaWa has an air pump and being nearby, that is where we went. The problem was not solved. Heading South on Orange Avenue, we visited the tire place only to be told it would take a few hours until they could get to it. While we could have taken my car at this point, it was getting a little too late for my liking. Instead, Bruce dropped me off and I went to the front pool for the first time. Why so? The lake pool is generally where I go, however, it was being shocked. As I soon learned, the front pool is pretty darn great as well.

Then, when my friend Winnie and her adorable grandson arrived, it got even better. It was so much fun being around a little one who is learning to swim.

Right about now I want to admit something--I was super surprised that very few folks had anything to say about the wrestling swans in my last post.  Can I be honest with you? It hurts my feelings a wee bit when people are quiet.

With that out of the way, a swan update for those who were interested. As we walked around Lake Cherokee this morning we saw but ONE parent and cygnet. Bruce was depressed as we carried on. When we got to the car I suggested we take one more look from the comfort of our air conditioned car. Friends, we did find the other parent, but there is no sign of one of the cygnets which really surprises me because they tend to have a decent survival rate. The other day we ran into Candy, a photography friend, who asked us if we'd seen the new Wood ducklings on Lake Davis. I was able to answer, "oh yes we did, and they are darn cute!"

She mentioned that they are good parents and the ducklings tend to live longer. I wish that were true on our lake, but of the batches we had this Spring, only two have managed to become juveniles. I hope more of these little cuties from Lake Davis make it!

Hard to imagine in this heat, but there are some flowers blooming around the city.

As I type, it is 97 degrees outdoors! Inside, 20 degrees cooler, thank God! And although we now are in dire need of rain again, I do hope we have some nice weather while Matt and Tom are here. Is it too much to ask for both sun and rain? I think not!!  It has been 18 months since last we saw them, so we are obviously very excited for their Friday arrival.

Lake Pineloch, meanwhile, really filled up during out last bout of rain.

While waiting on Bruce, I picked up a book entitled, Saints and Villians from the church library which is fantastic. Super sad, but good at the same time, it tells a fictionalized story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, about whom I knew nothing. The last time it was checked out? The year 2000. It is hard to put down, but put it down I did when we went to Cocoa on Saturday morning, arriving in short order around 9 in the morning. I liked it way more than I did our trip to New Smyrna, not the least because getting there is so simple. Then too, there was a lot of activity going on, as well as very little seaweed. Pelicans fishing,

Cross-fit folks,

and a very busy pier.

In other words, way more to photograph! Because of the previous rains, the water temperature was much cooler, however, once you dive in, it was very refreshing. Aside from one walk, and some swimming, we spent our time under an umbrella because we are as brown as berries around here. It was a bit hazy which cannot be considered a bad thing as it helps filter the hot June sunshine.

Notice anything unusual? This was about as big as the waves got much to the chagrin of the surfers.

The paddle board folks were happy though.

That same evening we were looking for something to watch on Netflix and came across this ten episode show.  Oh my goodness! So good, in fact so much so (that's a lot of so's I do realize!) that we skipped our usual going out to lunch after church thing so we could get home to finish it. Thinking we were onto something, I sent Michelle a text to watch it and her reply, "wasn't it so good?" Same with Fallon; I guess we are late to the party, huh? Speaking of the two of them, Michelle sent me a photo on Sunday morning of, get this, a Black Bear walking down Bill and Fallon's street!!! In this story,  you will see the bear heading towards Bill's vehicle. Unbelievable so close to downtown!! Since that time it has roamed to a neighborhood off of Conway Road, last I heard. Here's hoping it makes it back to where it came from without injury.

I've got some cookies underway so that's it for today folks. Stay cool if you can.

your friend,

Gail