It's Been a Minute

But I am back once again!

Although I took my computer with me, while in Orlando it never seemed like the right time to spend two or three hours to write a blog post. Now, however, the timing is right, or as right as it's ever going to be. One would be tempted to think that we have a lot of time on our hands ,but one would be wrong. How in this world I was ever able to manage with four children is a mystery to me! 

Along the way though, it's been a beautiful ride.

Before we went to Orlando to celebrate my brother's 80th birthday, something exciting happened on Campbell Street and that is we had the huge stump ground up in the space we wanted to use as a small garden. 

I'm not sure if you can tell that there were actually about seven stumps from what must have been a very large and complicated Crepe Myrtle tree. It was an interesting piece of equipment that he ran back and forth over the stump.

Having a giant stump in the midst of what was planned to be a garden was not ideal, so Bruce found someone who could make it go away, or at least grind it up. In my next post I will show you how this looks today, but I've got a lot to cover from the trip so let's get going.

Our nephew Joey planned to surprise my brother Pat and he succeeded beautifully as Pat was so surprised when he got to the restaurant.

It was such a thrill for everyone, including our brother-in-law Hank who had also driven down from Murphy.

The truth is, Pat was in tears, as well as my sister Nancy on the right. Nieces and nephews were present, including our twins, minus Fallon who was at home with the sleeping Christian. You gotta respect nap time!

Rarely seen in this space is my sister Lisa in the pink sitting beside our son David, as well as her two daughters, Amanda and Emily. Indeed it was time to celebrate Pat turning 80, a milestone that seemed out of reach years ago. It must be his sweet wife Ruth who has supported him through several maladies and who I am sorry to report somehow escaped my camera lens. A very happy occasion, to say the least. 

When we arrived at the condo we were shocked at the dead foliage that, although the kids told us about, until seen in person it seemed impossible. 

Not every plant has turned entirely brown, but a whole bunch of plants and trees around the community have.

It is hard for anyone to imagine the damage, because frankly it is unprecedented, but apparently back-to- back- to back hours long freezes killed more plants than we could imagine.

Above is a Staghorn fern attached to a tree behind our condo. A much larger one down the way, had no green remaining. It is so sad because it takes decades for these type of ferns to get this large. So while the plants were a bit sad, the birds did not disappoint. I must say that just walking out the back door and knowing I will see birds in action is pretty darn great. Ducklings!! 

Over the four days since I discovered them. a number of them disappeared, either from a roaming hawk or perhaps the otter that lives in the lake. 

Below is called a Tri-Colored Heron.

This little cutie is a Palm Warbler.

Many days Ibises lined the shoreline.

Actually there were a ton of birds that kept me busy. Birding was also planned for Monday at the Orlando Wetlands Park, however, you know how it goes, the best laid plans oftentimes go awry. As was the case on Monday when we drove the twenty plus miles out there only to discover that it is closed on Monday! Our niece Amanda who came from Durham for Pat's party went out on Sunday, so after seeing her photographs of the Spoonbill babies, I could NOT miss it! With birding out of the question on Monday, we went shopping instead. 

For the longest time I have struggled with getting the battery out of my camera that I use for zooming in on birds. which I know sounds crazy, but it's been true. After months and months I finally did a Google search and discovered that it must be a swollen battery. How did I manage you wonder? What I would do is beat the living daylights out of the camera on an edge of, really anything, to dislodge the battery. Well, finally I could do something about it in Orlando and I did. Saturday, late afternoon following the party, while Bruce and Hank chatted, I went to Colonial Photo and Hobby where I bought the camera. Hank was spending the night with us before he returned to Murphy, seeing our condo for the first time. 

But, I digress.

Explaining my situation to the young man who waited on me, I could see the skepticism in his eyes. I have faced the discrimination against female photographers forever, so I am ready for it. He tried a few times, eventually heading to the back where several others tried removing the battery. No dice. So, they could not help me until the battery was removed. I left and noticed their cool window celebrating 70 years in business. 

Being old does not help when it comes to asking for assistance I can tell you that much. During all my years of doing art shows there were very few women doing photography and I think it is because loving gear seems to be part of the male DNA, and maybe it is for lots of women too, but not this one. I am always content with very middle of the road. Speaking of gear, you should see the big guns out to play at the Wetlands. 

Haha! The only one whose big camera. is visible is a woman! The jokes on me.

Anyway, Bruce beat the battery out after our wetlands visit, we went back and I bought two batteries that come out beautifully. The crazy thing is I was blaming the camera, and was thinking I would need a new one, but thanks be to God, I am now good-to- go. 

And so you ask, did we see our grandson? Why yes we did.

I got a kick out of how he loved playing with his feet. There will come a time in his life when the thought of grabbing his feet will make him laugh at the prospect. Poor Christian had a cold and was not feeling his best, but he eventually let me play Grandma.

At least for a little while. Looking at this photo of Fallon blowing bubbles for Christian makes me happy. Can you even imagine the delight that a child would experience with the magic of bubbles?

His sweet little hair is kind of like his Daddy's.

We decided on our last afternoon, instead of visiting at their home, Fallon agreed to meet us at the park for a walk. What could be better than a walk with our grandson and his Mommy, and birds? Not much friends, not much.

It was a little chilly so our poor little sick boy needed all the comfort he could get. 

He's much improved since we departed and even has attended his last swim lesson class where he has learned to float. Bill and Fallon have a fence around their pool, but you can't be too careful around water. 

The temperature was cool and the light was perfect. 

This is part of a very old apartment complex if you can call eight buildings a complex!

The morning light from my shower is golden.

Holy cow, one evening when David was visiting we took a walk around and by golly we saw a Pelican land in the water!

A most unusual occurrence that I was thrilled to witness.

David and Michelle met us for dinner at F&D where the light is pretty great too.

I took a lot of photos that I have been excited to share with you, but for now we are just catching up with the bare bones of our week away. 

Before leaving I saw Crocuses coming up in Jason's yard and it made me very happy to see that some of them remained upon our return.

Today at pickleball people were talking about what is coming up in their yards and I got so excited because I could add to the conversation saying that irises, tulips and hyacinth are coming up in ours.

There's definitely an excitement in the air knowing that Spring is just on the horizon. Woo hoo!

your friend,

Gail