An Eventful Week

Cormorants! Plumbing problem! White Pelicans! Green Springs! Crows! White Peacock! David has surgery! Oh my!

Let's dive in, shall we?

When last I wrote, we were having some plumbing problems that Mr. Bruce could not fix. As is well documented in this space, if he cannot fix something, it has to be serious. Two plumbers from Emerald Plumbing arrived when they said they would which is always a good sign. Immediately, they went to work. After rechecking all the same things that had been done by the handy homeowner, they went out back to open up the sewer line that runs beneath our building.

Discovering some mud was a surprise, but nothing much otherwise. Next, they cut into the wall to reach the pipe that runs in the corner behind the medicine cabinet.

Running a snake down that line, the snake only went so far leading them to believe there was a blockage of some sort. As you can imagine, I was not thrilled with a hole in the wall, however, when I learned it was in lieu of cutting into the floor, I was all in. The next plan of action was to put a camera into the line, however, their camera was booked for the next two weeks leaving us in limbo. At this point the sinks were still not draining. Running into Sandy, she suggested that we get the office involved and they were fantastic, calling the community plumber who came within a few hours. The upshot is that the worse case scenario is that the sewer pipe would need repairing, meaning that our floors would need cutting into to reach said pipe. The best case scenario is that it was all a fluke and now that the sinks are draining just fine, we are get to go. It will be a week or so before we know so wish us luck!

In better news, the Cormorants and Pelicans arrived for a day.

Because all of our back windows face the lake, when there is action happening it is easy to spot. Especially when there are dozens and dozens raising a ruckus. They fly in from who knows where.

It was only for a day and a half, but during this visit I took far more photographs than anyone in their right mind would ever need! It is a frenzy with shorebirds from nearby lining the shore waiting for the fish to come their way.

On most days we may see one Egret or Heron, so how the nearby birds know to fly in, I have no clue. Remember the bird a day book Matt and Tom gave me for Christmas? It is fun with short entries about bird behavior that most books don't cover. On the day the entry was for a Mute Swan, of all things, the one we'd been seeing on our lake, who lately had been AWOL, returned.

I mention this because yesterday's entry was for the Great Cormorant! Good stuff.  While there is no mention of the link between pelicans and cormorants, from what I've seen here, they usually arrive together.

Furthermore, from what I've observed they get along just fine. That is, apparently not so much when a prized fish is involved.

I watched this pelican and cormorant skirmishing until the smaller bird won out.

As you can imagine, when about 100 birds arrive on our small lake it is pretty intense with the water birds and the shore birds all moving around.

And that, my friends is why I had to be late to join our friends for pickleball. You've got to get it while you can! The next morning it was back to being peaceful once again.

Although repeated many times, living on a lake is grand. The sky is enough to keep anyone entertained. Yesterday morning a cold front was coming through with rain and wind expected. Watching the storm clouds roll by is always a treat. 

Saturday morning it was chilly leading to rising steam,

which rose higher as the hour progressed.

Who isn't enthralled with the presence of sun rays? 

I can answer that one for you....my husband, whom I could not convince to come and see it for himself! :)

Most everyone who plays pickleball plays pickleball, eschewing practice because it is not nearly as much fun. Having said that, one who does love to practice is our son Bill who we meet at the courts multiple times a week. Having become an exceptional guitarist through countless hours of practice, he knows how valuable it can be. Let me tell you, he puts us through our paces with his hard hitting style.

I had my camera with me because I have been trying and trying to get a good shot of the American Kestral who has returned to the familiar perch where they previously nested. It is SO high in the sky and it is crazy hard for me to keep my camera steady, resulting in less than stellar images. I presume you have figured out that I will keep on trying!

Not only have the above mentioned birds been busy, we have had an abundance of crows making all sorts of racket.

In yet another bird related story, I became aware of there being a white peacock in the neighborhood I visit to observe peacocks. Holy cow, I counted 65 with some houses having 15 or more in their front yard! Hanging out, or laying down for that matter, they are found on a couple of streets and it took me driving down them all before I found what I was looking for. Although I've seen a white peacock at Gatorland, seeing one in the wild is a first for me. Mama seemed to be very protective of her "odd bird."

David had his shoulder surgery last week and it was tough sledding for some days, however, he has managed a shower which is a step in the right direction. Not his first rodeo with surgery, this time he is so very happy that since the previous one they purchased a recliner which has been a godsend. I'd said to Bruce the morning of the surgery, "I sure hope they can put our boy back together again." Seemingly, they have.

The Omicron variant continues to run rampant, hitting close to home when several of our friends have come down with it. While others have had close exposure, it seemed prudent to forgo getting together for a few days. Instead, we headed to Volusia County to a place Cynthia suggested. What a super interesting place Green Springs Park turned out to be. As to it being green, well see it for yourself.

Yes, that is a little gator floating around! What is so fascinating is that it almost glows. From talking to a park employee, we learned that it is vivid in the sunshine, not so much when it is overcast, so we came at a good time. As well, the color comes from sulphur.  In fact, the weather was glorious, something I will have to recall when August rolls around. Can you believe we are half way through January?? 

We walked the poorly marked trails a bit, deciding to turn around before we lost our way, ending up on the other side of the spring. You know how it is, when there are rules, in this case fences, some folks seem to enjoy doing just the opposite. We watched as the young man doing pushups climbed under the fence in order for his friend to film him in action. (see the red across the spring)

Can you imagine falling in?

While the water was something to behold, the old trees to be found there were as well. 

Old growth oaks with dripping sphagnum moss....it does not get more Southern than this.

We made another interesting stop on our drive back to Orlando, however, as this post has gone on for so long, that spot will be highlighted in my next post.

As to posts of old, this one from January 2014 brought back fond memories. What I wouldn't give to have a Painted Bunting show up here!!

your friend,

Gail

Fast Track

Before daybreak this morning, I heard the familiar song of the Northern Cardinal in the gigantic oak tree out front. Rarely have I seen him, it's only his song that tells me he is around. Not even once, in the 5 1/2 months that we have been back, has he paid us a visit which surprises me because I fully expected any number of Cardinals to feast on our feeders. I used to take them for granted at our home as they were so plentiful. It's easy to do that, isn't it? Taking things for granted seems to come more naturally than savoring every experience. Just thinking out loud here....

One thing we all took for granted was Maureen's hip healing, or at least the incision. It has not. Fully intending to write a post on Thursday afternoon, I visited Maureen in the rehab center in the morning during which time I learned that her hip was infected and she was going back to the hospital in an ambulance. While there the aide told me she really needed more clothes that were easy to get on and off, so, while she was heading to ORMC, I went shopping at the nearby thrift store. Clothes that are too big is what I was looking for. Putting them in the washing machine when I got home, I had some lunch, then it was back to her room at Westminster with the pants and shirts, followed by a trip to the Emergency Room where she was learning her fate. Let me just say that Brian, her nurse, was the finest example of a health care worker I've seen in years. Attentive, kind, efficient, I could go on an on. Maureen asked me, "how many times have we done this?" My answer? Too many.

So, this morning she is to undergo a procedure to either clean out the infection, or worse case scenario---start over. Pray for the former.

While waiting with Maureen, Bruce texted me with some horrible news. His great friend Jeff is in Florida Hospital with a diagnosis no one ever wants to hear. Devastated, I left Maureen in Brian's care and went home to brood. Friday, while I was with Maureen in her regular room, Bruce and Steve visited Jeff and he is doing as well as can be expected for a man who just proposed to the lovely Lori on Christmas Eve. You met the two of them here on Camera Crazy a few months back when we were out to brunch. And that my friends is where today's title comes from. It seems as if we are living life on a fast track with the months speeding by. They say that happens when you get older and I believe them. (Who is they, or them, anyway?)

Enough with the bad news, let's do some birds and I do mean some birds. Lake Willisara may be small, but oh my, the action! I was bemoaning the lack of a space for a bookcase, going so far as to rearrange the living room, hoping to find some. That didn't work. Then it hit me, how about if we use this spac,e and by golly it did work. We got the little bookcase out of our closet and I finally unpacked the last of our boxes!!

I can't tell you how many different colors that bookcase has been throughout the years but for now it will remain brown. Anyway, out the window I saw an amazing sight. Grabbing my camera, first I saw this on the shoreline:

Talk about biting off more than one can chew! This, however, was not what I was out back looking for, merely a bonus, because on the lake there was a gigantic flock of migrating Greater Cormorants, probably at least 50!

For some reason, this attracted other birds, more than I've ever seen before. So funny watching them watch the water.

Tearing myself away, I went back to unpacking the books which I first put in like this:

I'm certain I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, but a bookcase looks way better when you arrange books by color.

At least, that's how I see it. Doing this made me so happy! Now, down to the big lake to see where the birds went.

Migration is such an awesome thing to contemplate, don't you think? Truly amazing. While I was down at the big lake, I made sure to photograph the beautiful pink Camillea adjacent to the bar area. The other Gayle tells me that she has never seen it look so lovely.

After rescuing Maureen's succulent garden from her room, I drove over to Edgewater High School to drop off Jonathan's yearbooks. Along the way I came across the florist Matt used to send that fantastic arrangement. Cool building, great flowers.

Driving back to the hospital, I took Westmoreland and had a nice surprise. Years ago, in the area now used for the soccer stadium, there was a little complex with some amazing street art. Torn down, I thought that was the end of cool murals in our town. Not so fast Gail!

Winding my way around the building on foot, I finally found the entrance, and had a chat with the curator who asked me to take his photograph, dog included. Bad lighting but what can you do?

Explaining that artists from all over are represented, I also learned I missed a street art festival a few months back. Probably paying too much attention to our kitchen remodel and birds. :) Speaking of which, after much deliberation and searching, we found our pulls and knobs. As well, Bruce is working on changing out all of the hinges, a job that is nearly complete. Plus, again, after a ridiculous amount of deliberation, I picked a wall paint color and began the job Saturday afternoon, finishing Sunday afternoon. It is not the first time I've had a yellow kitchen, but I think it will be the last. Anyway, now the walls are not fighting with the tile.

The lamp, on the other hand is. Smokey Taupe by Benjamin Moore is the color and we could not be any happier. Troy, our cabinet painter is, as I type, on his way here to put up some samples for the cabinets which we hope will be in the works next week. Can I get a big YEAH?

Back to the street art, on the corner of Central and Westmoreland, one of the things I found the most striking was this display of cans. I know, I'm weird.

The pattern on these doors would make a great quilt wouldn't it?

Lordy, we are back to the lake again! During a much sunnier part of the day, the Cormorants returned, but this time what caught my attention were these ducks that I cannot identify for the life of me. Are they Mallards?

I wish they were closer so better to see them! Ducks, like identifying a white paint color for cabinets is a challenge. I do remember a time before the internet when I would just pick a paint color and go with it. Sometimes more information is not what its cracked up to be.  Do you agree?

Finally, after cleaning up my paint gear, I walked down to the big lake where this scene is a nightly fixture. It seems as if I'm not the only one obsessed with the sky!

Now, off to check on Maureen.....

your friend,

Gail