Ready for yet another Photo Safari Report?  Yay!  Well come on down then!  Let's go!

As you can clearly see from the photo above it was a truly gorgeous day. Perfect for a good long hike.  Joy and I kept trudging along for just over 5 miles and loved every second of it.  We hit up a preserve we rarely go to, not becoz we don't enjoy it, we do!  But because, due to heavy morning commute traffic, it's hard to get to.  Still every once in awhile, we go anyway, patiently waiting for the perfect size gap in traffic to pull a you-ee  and set to.  I'm going to name this one the Animal Uber Hike and I'll explain that in just a minute here.

A few miles into this hike we got to a place that is normally completely flooded over, making it impossible to go any further along that particular trail, so it was a real treat that to be able to hike beyond that spot.  This being the dry season, most of the lake was MIA but there was just enough water left to attract quite a variety of critters including: roseate spoonbills, egrets, crows, ibis and several others.   Very Pretty. Reminds me of a Monet painting :)

They were all very hard at working looking for their breakfasts and therefore were completely  ignoring us.  The ignoring us part was especially important because we also saw a wild hog close by.   Yikes!

Looks a little like the loveable, adorable, Eeyore of Winnie the Pooh fame doesn't he?  Well, just for the record, they are not loveable or adorable. In general they are mean tempered and cranky and just as apt to hurt you as not.  Usually we give them wide berth!  But since he was Very Occupied and on the complete other side of the pond from us, we quietly took our photos and tippy toed onward past him with no problems. Whew!

However, on the way back, we saw that not only was he still there, but he was giving a ride to a crow!  Animal Uber!  LOLOL

We saw a lot of Scrub Jays on this hike which was nice since we haven't seen any in awhile.  They are especially fun to see because they aren't afraid of people and seem to love having their photos taken.  They literally were posing for us!  Here's a set of Scrub Jay pictures:

Yes, there were other birds. Of course there were. Want to check those out too?  Okey dokey:

Got some pretty botanicals too.  Let's face it, on such a beautiful day, it was genuinely difficult to take a bad photo. I did manage of course, but I was shocked at how few pictures I deleted during edit!  Henceforth, trees/ flowers/etc.

And finally, FINALLY, we are starting to capture dragonflies again, which means butterflies cannot be far behind!  Huzzah!

We have, once again, come to the end of another Photo Safari Report.  Hope you enjoyed the Animal Uber Hike.  What could be better than a great hike on a beautiful day with a terrific person, seeing and capturing lovely things AND having a good giggle too.

Hope today is the start of a Fabulous Week for all of you! 

Leaving you with photos of us  (Joy on the left and me on the right)

The above photo, which I did not take by the way,  is of both the Venice and Nokomis jetties which form a channel which in turn is an entrance to the Intercoastal Waterway.   If you've never heard of the Intercoastal Waterway (or just intercoastal)  it is a 3,000 mile inland waterway that runs along the Atlantic and Gulf of the US.    It stretches from Massachusetts south along the Atlantic Seaboard around the southern tip of Florida and ends in Brownsville Texas.  In short, it's quite long.  heh  And wildly popular with boaters.

Venice, the town we live in has the south Jetty and Nokomis, which is one town north of us, obviously has the north jetty.  Both have a lovely long walkout  which is lined with enormous rocks and is usually populated with sightseers ogling dolphins and manatees, fisher people, folks waiting to watch the sunset and loads of birds.  There are often surfers to be seen, boats to wave at and a public beach to access.  Ours used to have a snack shack called, Jetty Jacks that offered, in addition to food and drinks, live music, clean bathrooms and picnic tables  - some with umbrellas for shade.  used to have.

Our jetty is pretty much toast right now. The last hurricane season beat the absolute snot out of it. Jetty Jacks sadly, was completely destroyed and the rest is, well, it's barricaded right now. Though shalt not pass!    We are coming dangerously close to hurricane season once again and our jetty remains closed.  Oh I'm sure that eventually it will be repaired and that will be grand but in the meantime, we are jetty-less.

The folks who fish can fish elsewhere, off the pier if nothing else, sightseers can see wildlife from any point on the beach and y'know, we are in island so there is a lot of beach /waterfront to choose from,   The sunset  is right there in the same spot, every night, all you have to do is look west.  I'm not certain where the surfers went.  It's just a matter of time and patience until it is repaired and once again accessible to all.

But in the meantime, poor Tim is going through some sort of Jetty Withdrawal I think.  For reasons known only to Tim, our jetty just speaks to him. It was one of his most  favorite places to be here.  That's where we  went to watch the solar eclipse (with the proper eye protection naturally).  It's also where we would sometimes go on a moonless night to star gaze very very very late.  As if we were tourists we would go there, on the regular, camera in hand to capture frolicking dolphins, huge waves, not yet dangerous but still very impressive storms, bird close ups and whatever else happened to be there.  We went there to celebrate, to eat donuts on cold rainy mornings,   to squint through thick chewy fog to see what appeared to be ghost ships passing through the channel or just to find some peace when life gets to be a bit much.

And now, it's not an option.  He misses it. He doesn't complain of course, he's not the sort of person who complains about anything. But I know him.  And I know how much he misses being there.  If jetty visits were a once in a long while thing, it wouldn't be a big deal.  But it was at least weekly, sometimes multiple times in a week that Tim and I, or just Tim alone, would end up there. I felt so badly for him :(

This past weekend it occurred to me that the Nokomis jetty had reopened. Perhaps a visit to that jetty would fill the gap so to speak?  So on Sunday, we drove over to check it out. 

We stood at the edge looking down into the water from the rocks, we watched the birds, waved to the boats and made out way on to the beach and watched the sun begin it's descent.  Eventually we left.  I asked him how he felt about it and he said it was fine but just not the same.  And he was completely correct.  We stood on the Nokomis side looking at what remained of the Venice side with longing and nostalgia and, I suspect, missed it more than ever.  

For some things, there simply are no substitutes, it seems.

But hey, we tried.  And it isn't as though we had a bad time after all, we did not.  But it wasn't the same.

I did take a few photos which I will end with.  Eventually our jetty will be repaired, I have no doubt and then we can return to visit one of Tim's favourite places.

I'm going to be 72 this year so I am completely qualified to the following opinion:  Getting Old Sucks.  In fact, it sucks rocks, it stinks on ice, it's gnarly pits, it's.....I cannot come up with a phrase that adequately explains how downright lousy it is.  

Those of you who are around my age will probably agree that 90% of being old is crap.  If you are younger, you will not understand no matter how compassionate and empathetic you might be.

It started small and sneaky, almost like a comic book villain.  A few wrinkles and crinkles around the eyes that we justify by calling them, "smile lines".  "Isn't that adorable?    I started noticing them (they were probably there before but I don't look in the mirror very often) when I was mid 50's.  I piffled it off and declared that it didn't bother me a bit.  (I was lying both to me and everyone around me. It bothered me, a lot)

Then it was the things affected by gravity.  Let me start by saying that I'm glad we have gravity, I'm happy to be firmly placed upon this planet but when it comes to the impact of gravity upon my personal person, not a fan.  Gravity pulls everything down and I mean everything (it's why we fall down and not up afterall).  I began looking in the mirror even less than before. That's how I combat my enemies - with a strong wallop of denial!

When it came to arthritis, I couldn't pretend it wasn't there, dang it.  It wasn't just the pain and believe me when I say this, it hurts, all day every day there is some degree of what the medical books laughingly describe as "discomfort".  If you have arthritis, you understand, if you don't, you absolutely do not.  For me, the pain alone wasn't the biggest issue it was that suddenly, my fingers were pointing in all sorts of wrong directions and most of the joints no longer bent.  the accuracy of my typing was severely impacted coz the doggone keyboard keys were no longer where my fingers were aiming.  And of course the lack of ability to bend my fingers also meant playing violin was out of the question, picking up small objects takes a lot of creative problem solving and even people who seriously need to be punched, would go punchless.  

Growing up, even into younger adulthood, I saw a doctor once a year.  As a kid it was shots and the school and sports team clearance more than anything.  Once a year was frankly more than necessary.  Suddenly one innocent annual doctor appointment ends up being referred to specialists of all sorts.  Now we have an entire rolodex worth of medical professionals and it feels like there is some sort of doctor appointment happening every month.  Our calendars are cluttered up with all sorts of medical nonsense.  

The old digestive system that never let us down as kids allowing us to eat an entire batch of chocolate chip cookies with potato chip chips on the side and a soda chaser with impunity, now balks at the stupidest things.  Spicy food?  No I'm sorry, my body doesn't like that anymore.  Fried foods?  Oh it smells so good, but I'm afraid I would have to pay the price later. Citrus? nope. Acidic foods? negative.  Pizza?  Oh I love it way more than it loves me, I'm afraid.   Ice cream?":  Stop torturing me!  The list of foods we cannot (or should not) eat is much longer than the ones we can.  Most of what's left is very boring.

Then there is the really scary stuff, cognitive issues.  Walking into a room and not remembering why.  Setting down my glasses and having no idea where.  Starting one project and getting distracted by another part way through over and over so that by the end of the day I am surrounded by a half dozen, half-finished projects.  There are days when I walk around all day thinking, "there is something that I forgot to do" and not realizing what that thing was until the next day. All those times when I cannot think of the word I want to use.  I know what letter it starts with, I know what the word means, I just cannot for the life of me think of the dang word.  ARGH!  Frustrating and terrifying all in one.

Fatigue is a close personal friend now.  I get out an exercise, I do.  Nearly every day I get out and walk, whether it's around town, into town to do errands, to get to wherever I need to go (I walk errands rather than run them heh) or in the forest on a Photo Safari.  I am not the sort that just sits on my tushy all day. I have a round of exercises that I thoroughly hate doing but loyally do at least 3 or 4 times a week. And I'm busy with volunteer work, yard work, shopping, cooking, baking, cleaning, planning and my many interests.  All of these things are highly recommended activities to combat fatigue and yet.............and yet!  Every single afternoon around 3 or 4 o'clock I could easily have a little nap.  A tiny snooze.

Someone (much younger than I) recently was talking to me about certain aspects of the global/political scene and while I was able to calmly reasonably intelligently discuss the topic with her, I wasn't getting all steamed up about it.  And that made her a little annoyed.  "Why aren't you mad about this?", she demanded, "You are sitting there just as calm and cool as a cucumber instead of really being PO'd".  I answered without giving it a seconds thought, "I'm too tired to be angry".  It seems that, for me at least, being angry takes a lot more energy than being calm or being happy or pleased or content or anything positive and I just don't have the oomph for anger anymore.

For the most part, we don't complain about it.  My Nana used to say that there is no point in complaining about the heat because complaining doesn't make it a dang bit cooler.  Same goes for this getting old stuff.  Not only will complaining not change it, it's boring to talk about. It is!  It's dull and boring and nobody wants to hear it. So when anybody says, "How are you?"  My immediate answer is "just fine, how are you?"  even when I am very clearly not fine.

As you can plainly see, there isn't much to like about getting old.  Well maybe one thing.  I find that I am more apt to speak my mind now.  usually in a kind, polite way, but still if you ask my opinion, beware because you will hear the truth. Sometimes I will even give a warning, "Be absolutely certain that you want to hear my answer because I will tell you what I really think".  This is new for me and for the most part it's a good thing.

The other, slightly related thing, is that I don't always say yes now.  Sometimes  I say no.  Again politely and kindly, but firmly.  "Hey come join us for pickleball?"  'No thank you, but kind of you to ask." 'oh come on, it's fun"  "I'm glad you enjoy it"  "Really!  It'll be good for you"  "no thank you, I am not much of a sports person".  See! Most of that was very polite but firm.    Turns out you can say almost anything as long as you have a smile on your face.

One of the biggest and life altering things I can do now is say no with NO explanation.  This brand spankin' new for me!  "Hey we are having a party on the 12th, would you like to come?"  "No thank you". The end.  I was a shocking revelation for me that not only could I say no but I didn't have to explain why. Just no.  Wow!   And now I can do that.  I make no apology for wanting a nap mid afternoon, or turning down the offer of eating Thai food, or not wanting to loan out a precious book.  it's  whole new me. And I like it.

Why I am suddenly so much brave so say no, to speak my mind, I have no  idea but I'm positive that it's related to being older and I am grateful for it.  I am so much more confident in my own decision making these days.  I don't second guess myself as much, I don't over think like I used to either.  Both good things.  

I reckon that's it.  My opinion about getting old is, avoid it if you can.  Put it off as long as possible. I don't care how many cute commercials they show on TV of smiling old folks loving life (and I do love my life - don't get me wrong) and having a ball, most of getting old sucks. Be prepared.

Here it is folks, the promised Photo Safari Report from last week. Since this hike was on Joy's birthday we will call this one the Joy's Birthday Hike. Sometimes the hikes name themselves.

As you can see, we started out fairly early, which is such a pretty time of day even if it means also a chillier time of day with heavy dew on the ground.  Which in turn means we wear toasty layers and our feet get wet and therefore also very dirty.  (the dirt sticks to the wet y'see) Oh well. But since we both hike in sneakers and sneakers are washable it's no biggie.

Like lots of our hikes, there were areas with not much going on and other spots where we stood in one spot taking one photo after another over and over for quite some time.  We do move around in that one spot because the shots are in every direction all at the same time. We resemble photo snapping whirling dervishes more than anything in those moments.  And then the moment is gone, we move on and that's just how it works.  We are good with it.

I'll begin at the beginning with some bird photos. The first photo of the day was of a bird and the last one was too.  Very "full circle".  I love when that happens:

,I was surprised and pleased with the number of wildflower photos I got , some perhaps past their classically considered prime true enough, but always beautiful no matter what:

The forest was, as it always is, breathtakingly beautiful just on it's own:

I even have a couple of Randos for the post today!

I reckon that's about the size of it.  It was a good hike. I would go so far as to say that it was a great hike!   Hope you had a good time reading the Joy's Birthday Hike Photo Safari Report. 

See you soon!  

​

Yesterday was Joy's birthday !!!  All together now:  "Happy Birthday, Joy!"  Oh that was nice.  Her request for her birthday was a hike which is what we do almost every Thursday so that was easy to give her :)  There were a very small gifts and some oatmeal cookies too.  Not bad.

You know, as sisters go, I got really lucky. Joy is one of the good ones.  While our interests and talents are not much the same - she is an artist and a dancer and a genius quilt maker while I'm more of a reader, writer, housemouse type - she has always been my biggest supporter.  Back when I used to write music, I would send her tapes of me playing and singing the songs I wrote and then she would listen and call me and we would discuss them.  Which meant that she honestly, actually, really and truly listened to each and every one of those doggone tapes.  That's huge.

In school she was super popular and active in social groups like theatre, art and dance while I had a very small (emphasis on the very) circle of friends and spent a lot of time on my own hanging around libraries and typewriters.   But we shared a room, in a courteous way, and helped each other out with whatever the other needed.  We comprised on room colours and were genuinely interested in each other's lives even though our personalities were very different.

I suspect that part of the reason that two people who were so very different, (even though we are still to this day told how much we look alike) got along so well was that in our childhood years, we moved so very much.  Life was sometimes kind of traumatic and difficult for one reason or another and we were always stepping into the unknown.  There was sometimes stress and pressure in the household which of course needed to stay secret and that left the two of us often feeling very much alone. There were times when we were all we had.  So we cherished and nurtured and so carefully protected our collective which, I suppose, was sisterhood.

After sharing a room for our whole childhood,  we were finally separated when I left for college after which I moved on with my life and she with hers. And it so happened that life dictated that we would live far away from each other for the greater part of our adult lives.  But we couldn't really be separated so we burned up the phone lines on a regular basis, talking, listening, supporting, sharing, venting and advising.  And to this day, nobody can make me laugh harder and longer than she can.  We crack each other up, laugh until we cry, leave the room separately to calm down and then when we return all we have to do is look at each other and we start laughing all over again. That's priceless.

In our entire lives, we never really fought, never raised our voices and certainly never resorted to violence!  Come to think of it I do remember one occasion when Joy - for whatever reason was willing to poke the bear.  We were in primary school still, in California in the second house there.  Joy was inside and I was outside charged with watering the garden.  I'm not why, but Joy was feeling a little bold and silly both at the same time and was mocking me through the open window, making fun to me having to do a chore while she was foot loose and fancy free.  I listened to the teasing through three different windows (two rooms) and suddenly for a brief moment, turned the hose on her. Through the open window.  Into the house.  She was shocked into silence, sputtered a moment and then started laughing. I mean way deep down in  the belly laughter!  Which made me laugh too and we ended up sopping up the wet floor (and furniture - yikes) together and our parents never knew.  That's the best kind of sisterhood.

Now for the past almost 9 years now, finally we are living in the same state, only about a half hour apart and how very nice to get to spend time together, once a week at least, to giggle and vent and listen and talk and support and advise once more, but now live and in person.  

We still have different interests, personalities and talents though there is more crossover now. We've both raised our beautiful, wonderful and amazing children (she had all girls, I had all boys).  We both retired from jobs that were in medical offices, departments and clinics (odd eh?) And now here we are, hanging out together because we enjoy each other's company, hiking because we love getting out in nature, taking photos because that has become a shared interest (her pictures are a zillion times better than mine, but she is patient and teaches and I learn more every time we go out).   We still talk and listen and crack each other  up every single week.

We both a little creaky now, a little grey, a little wrinkley and we both have discovered the frustration of arthritis in our hands.   When we are out together, whether we are hiking through forests or off on a shopping adventure (always hilarious) we aren't two old ladies anymore, we are kids again, two sisters who always have each other's backs, giggle a lot and never run out of things to talk about.  We always share what we have, listen with open hearts and quite honestly, I cannot imagine my life without my sister in it.

Happy Birthday Jo!

I will write up the Photo Safari Report from yesterday's hike next week, I promise!

Yeah, I know, the photo is a little crooked.  Sorry about that.  Doesn't change that fact that this is a photo of the Kittyboys new little house!  Isn't it the cutest thing?  And since, as you can see,  there is a kitty napping in the little house, it is a hit! They like it!

About a year ago we had received something we ordered online that came in a pretty big box and rather than throw away the box, I had made it into the Kittyboy Hideout which had two doors and a skylight!  They loved it. In fact, they loved it to death.  Eventually we had to finish breaking it down and throw it away. So sad.  

I think Wyatt was a little more okay with it but Brysco missed it so much that he kept trying to turn other things into his new kittyhideout. Things like Tim's office garbage can.  Anytime we wanted to throw something away, we had to check it for kitties first.  

 It was very obvious that Brysco not only wanted a new hiding spot, he actually needed it. Ok.  The plan was to make one out of the next box that arrived.  But here's the thing, not all boxes are created equally.

Some boxes are too small, others are too flimsy and some, apparently smell "funny" as they are immediately rejected by both resident felines after a few tentative sniffs.  It took some time and a lot of "testing but finally, two boxes showed up within a few days of each other that passed all three tests: they were of a decent size, sturdy and passed the stink test.  Tim set out to create a nifty little kitty house.  In very short order it was complete and before it was even done, there was a cat in it.  Success!  With the addition of a nice soft kitty sized blanket, Brysco was snoozing inside it within about fifteen minutes of completion.  Yay!

I, of course, cannot leave well enough alone andI decided to decorate it. Armed with scissors, tape and wrapping paper, I evicted the resident cat and set to work. Eventually, I had made an adequate mess (even though it wasn't fully decorated) that  Brysco decided enough was done enough and jumped back in, giving me "the look" which dared me to remove him again.  I wisely decided that at least for now, it was done.

Tim did a great job and it is kitty approved.  Not only is it snazzy looking and cozy for napping, it even has a back window which is roughly kitty face shaped. Awwwwww.

The only downside is that it is the size of one full grown cat, not two.  There have been a few tussles over who gets to be in the little kitty house. Brysco seems to win every time even though he is far smaller than his brother. He must be a sneaky fighter. If you cannot win with brawn you gotta use brains.

So we will be on the lookout for another box or set of boxes which meet the same criteria and then Wyatt can have his own little house.  That does not mean there will be no fussing over the boxes you understand.  Of course there will be.  Just  like with human children.   Shenanigans abound with kids and with cats.  In this case it's Kitty Shenanigans!  

Yesterday, for example, was a very chilly, rainy, windy day and there is something about those barometric pressure changes that make cats crazy!  They were tearing around the house as if hungry tigers were chasing them, tussling in window sills, leaping out at each other from behind furniture  and I swear, at one point they were holding chariot races in the kitchen!

On Sunday, Tim pulled out a big ladder to work on the nonfunctional living room ceiling fan.  He set the ladder up first then went to get the rest of the things he needed for the job. When he returned, he discovered that he had an assistant for the project.  Brysco!

Whenever I'm writing at the computer I have my own personal assistant, Wyatt who pats at the words appearing on the screen as I type and walks across the keyboard if I take my hands off for two seconds!  He's helping!

They sit in the chairs at the kitchen island watching me cook and bake with great interest.  They especially like when I let them sniff each thing. They are very good and never attempt to eat it, they just want to find out how it smells.

They inspect all packages that enter the house, especially grocery bags, assist in both removing and replacing bedsheets and are quick to remind us if we are late with a meal or if they even suspect that it's possible that we might be late with a meal.  Or a snack. 

A small cranky aside at the point:  This time change thing is really hard on them.  It's tough for all pets and young children I think.  After all they do not operate on clock time, they follow Tummy time. and Tummy time does not fall back or leap forward.  I really really really despise the time change.  Pick one and keep it.  I honestly do not care which one, just choose dang it.

Anyway,  all is well in kittyland for the most part. Brysco has a follow up appointment at the vet tomorrow morning and fingers crossed that all is well.  That poor little guy has had more than his fair share of troubles.  Wyatt on the other hand has been hale and hearty the entire time we've had him. When I pointed the difference in the brothers out to the vet he pointed at Wyatt and said, "You must have gotten the extended warranty for that one".  heh

Ok I guess that was it.  It should be clear to you by now that we live a Very Exciting Lifestyle :) But it works for us and for the kittyboys who say, "Thanks for reading about us!"   They are suckers for attention.

I know, I know, I'm a slacker.  I haven't posted all week 'til now.  It's been kind of a crazybusy week so I apologize.  Not too busy to miss hiking day though so here we go with this week's Photo Safari Report.  Hope you are wearing a cozy sweater.  Don't let the sunshine fool you, it was dang cold outside for this hike. I am calling this one the Blustery Day Hike since it was not just chilly but very very windy too.  Enough so that it was slim pickin's as far as wildlife photos. 

​The light however was exquisite.    The above photo is totally unedited. I did nothing to it artificially. I didn't crop it,or brighten it or use any of the (small amount) of editing tools available to me to make a photograph better.  This one was perfect, just as it was.

We saw very few birds , or rather very little variety of birds.  There were a lot of one particular sort tho, all hunkering down against the wind trying to stay warm, poor things, while still fishing for their breakfasts.  These are all herons, different ones, not multiple photos of the same one, I promise:

Herons were not the only birds we saw, just the most plentiful.  There were a few others.  Ready?  Here we go:

We kept remarking that we weren't seeing any ground critters, no mousies, no lizards or squirrels and not even a rabbit!  But my guess is that the bunnies and the rest were all toas ty warm in their little burrows, wearing their fuzzy slippers and warm robes, watching cartoons and eating poptarts by the fire.  Smarter than us for sure!

Moving on to what we did see.  Number one with a bullet was, way  too many of these guys.  But then, it's their "house" so I shouldn't be surprised.  They were also trying to get warm, laying on the banks in the sun, despite the chilly temps and snappy wind gusts.  Let me tell ya, that wind had teeth!

Honestly the biggest star of the show on this hike was the quality of the light.  There is something very special about the early morning light on a cold day.  Everybody talks about the "golden hour"  in the late afternoon/early evening and no question, it's gorgeous!  But give me this early chilly light every time. Part of it is the richness of colour whether it's on the on the water, in the air  or on the greenery The light sifting down through the canopy of trees creating shadow and highlighting everything else is perfection. Here's a few other examples, it's all just scenery shots soo please indulge me:

Enough of me waxing poetic. Maybe it's time now for a few randos:

I guess that's it.  We have come to the end of another adventure, another Photo Safari Report.  Thanks for coming along on the Blustery Day Hike.  Hope you bundled up and stayed warm!

Have a terrific weekend ya'll and we'll meet here again one day next week!  Got lots more to tell you!
Hugs all 'round.