Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Alligator Story (Louis Armstrong)

Thursday is day 24 with no end in sight. Things are good here with plenty of projects and things to do.  This morning I had the telephone visit with my primary care doctor. We went over my blood test results and hurray - another  year without taking any prescriptions.

Sirius and I walked at Lake Somerset before it got too hot and then I planted flowers in the pots in front of our house. Hope it rains soon, though none is projected. A lazy day followed with reading on the shady back porch and watching the bluebirds fly in and out of their house with seeds and food for the babies. I can hear them chirp, but don't want to open the box to look.


This Great Blue Heron is perched on a log stuck in the lagoon and then moved over to the shore.




 Late afternoon I lazed on the couch and The Windermere Children that I had recorded on PBS. Lots of tears and happiness at how well some of them matured.

In the evening I watched the second night seder online from our rabbi's home while I enjoyed matzoh ball chicken soup, charoset and gefilte fish. Went to bed before 10:00 which is crazy for me.

Now it is Friday and I got up before 6:00 and spent two hours cleaning up my email account and deleting old messages. I went to Walmart Pharmacy right at 9:00 to pick up my Vitamin D Rx. The store was empty and very clean. A good time to go as later in the day they manage the number of people and you have to wait in line outside. Sirius went with me as it is much cooler and we took a walk on the way home. Since the weather was still lovely I took my walk as soon as we got home.

Saturday is Shabbat and I attended online services at Mickve Israel. It is a welcome change to the usual routine. I continue to play online Mah Jongg and getting pretty familiar with the new card. I am reading a good book The Orphan Master's Son. It takes place in North Korea and gives a good insight to life there.

Sunday is a very special day - Sirius's birthday and he is 8 years old today. He is such a good dog and maturing so nicely. Still doesn't want anyone to come to our front door, but we cope with that. We were supposed to be at Cirque du Soleil today which is Easter Sunday. The show was cancelled a while ago and we are sad since we had front row seats. Spending a lot of time on the porch listening to our bluebird chicks in their box. We don't dare open it and take a peek as it may scare the parents away. They should fledge soon, fly away, and maybe the parents will have another family to occupy the box.

Monday we are still enduring Passover and matzoh, Day 28 and we are having torrential rain and wind.






Luckily we did not have the tornadoes that hit states west and north of us. Spent most of the day in the house and walked Sirius in the spots that occurred between the rain. It cleared up nicely in the afternoon.

Tuesday was gator day. Glorious sunshine and I saw a large gator sunning as Sirius and I took our morning walk around the Towne Center. He was lounging near the pedestrian path which is becoming a new habit. In the past one or two gators would be on the opposite bank so I felt safe walking there. Now the walkers were busy watching the gator and walking out near the road just in case he decided to move.


It is so deserted on the path and the parking lot is empty.



On the way home I stopped on Landing Lane which has a busy lagoon. There are up to eight gators living here. Today I saw five and a turtle all catching the sun.





When I got home I took my oatmeal out to the porch and noticed two gators on the lawn. One is huge and had visited last week. It is mating season and they do act differently than we are used to.




They stayed for a while and then swam to the other side where they usually hang out.



Later I walked to Hidden Cypress and saw the momma gator who lives by a tiny island off the boardwalk. There is hardly any water there, but she has made this her home for several years now and I love seeing her babies crawl around.


No babies today as it is very hot and I was thrilled to get home and into the shower after three miles. Later Jan and Harvey came over with their chairs and sat a safe distance away on the porch. It is good to see friend's faces and chat in person. We heard a huge splash and an osprey had dived out of a tree and into the water. Then he flew off and another osprey appeared and chased him. I was loving the nature!

And finally it is Wednesday and little chilly and rainy. Sirius and I walked at Hidden Cypress and then I spent some time on the phone taking care of things that needed to be done. My Wednesday class with Rabbi Haas met on Zoom. We usually meet monthly, but decided to meet weekly now that we are all looking for something to do. Did some cooking and made "nice cream" from some ripe bananas that I had frozen. Watched some TV to get the news on the virus.

After dinner Sirius and I walked near the dog park and then went over to the rookery on the 18th hole of Hidden Cypress. It is gorgeous with so many birds sitting in nests and getting ready to start families. Anhingas, Cormorants, Snowy Egrets, Cattle Egrets, Great White Egrets, White Egrets, Wood Storks, Ibis and Little Blue Herons. A treasure trove of birds.








On the drive home we had another treat as an adult and baby eagle were in the nest. The other adult was sitting in a nearby tree. The other eaglet was probably hidden in the nest.







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