It is Monday and only 36 days to the elections. Jeff and I have applied for absentee ballots and intend to hand deliver them to the Election Bureau in Beaufort. I usually work at the polls, but not taking a chance this year.
So Monday was Yom Kippur and I fasted and spent most of the day at services. We belong to Mickve Israel in Savannah and they did a beautiful job doing the services on YouTube. A member is a professional videographer and he puts so much work into appropriate videos to accompany the music and prayers. Many people were in the services and most of it was taped over the summer.
That night I watched a televised debate for our Congressional candidates. That was a practice for what was to come on Tuesday night with the first Presidential debate. I will not comment as history will tell the story of that debacle. We were supposed to have dinner with Jan and Harvey, but it was pouring rain and we did not want to sit on the porch. So they brought over my Mexican food and we stayed home.
Wednesday I attended my study group and this week we discussed Jewish authors. I gave a report on Herman Wouk and want to reread some of his books which I read as a teen or young adult. I had a Hadassah training on ZOOM in the afternoon and an OLLI class at night. I am so busy and find that amazing since I barely leave the house. I do continue to walk every day. Sirius and I do about a mile in the morning and then I try to go to the nature trail and do another two miles. As it is cooler now it is lovely to be outside.
Today was very special as Jeff and I took another road trip to Hunting Island State Park. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and not too hot. Perfect to find Painted Buntings, a colorful bird that I heard were at the park's nature center. It takes about 45 minutes to drive to the park which is located northeast of Beaufort and the drive is wonderful crossing lots of water and marshes. We got there before noon which is not the best time to go bird watching, but it is what it is. We went to their nature center and saw some tanks with snakes, turtles and other small creatures. Then we went outside to walk on the pier which is under repair.
Next we started to walk the mile long trail to the beach. It was full of bugs that started biting and I went back to the car to get bug spray. When I returned Jeff was heading back saying his neck had started to hurt. So he headed for the car and I headed towards the beach. I was not seeing any birds and it was deserted so I decided to walk back. On the way I met another birder and did see a few birds. There were lots of palms, pines and hardwood trees. These branches were full of resurrection fern which were looking very green and healthy with all the rain we have had recently.
When I got back I returned to the feeder area and saw a bird that I think is a female Painted Bunting.
Now I had a real treat as two young raccoons arrived and started eating seeds that had fallen from the feeders. They were so cute. But then one of them climbed a tree near me and could have easily jumped on the railing next to me. So I decided it was time to leave after snapping a few more photos.
Determined to find a male bunting we stopped a a marsh boardwalk that is part of the park and I walked to the end and back, about a half mile. Very pretty.
Last stop was the beach area which had lots of standing water which had some of the roads and parking areas closed. I walked out to the beach and passed the famous lighthouse. There is lots of beach area here and we never come in the summer as I hear it gets crowded and often they run out of parking spaces. This time of year there were just a sprinkling of people.
Unfortunately I didn't see any interesting shore birds, just a few sea gulls. I can return and try my luck again. On the way back we stopped at a seafood place and ate outside for the first time since March. They had two patios and were at a large picnic table with no one within 15 feet. It was great!
We got home in time to walk Sirius and I had my African American class. Tonight we continued watching Inspector Morse on TV. One of my favorite shows that Jeff had never seen before.
No comments:
Post a Comment