And several handsome critters:

And one rabbit, several squirrels, a pair of Osprey, a large fish in the pond, and numerous song birds up in the canopy.

The walk: It was a cloudy humid day. A storm cell was due to pass over the Peninsula at some point, so I vowed to keep an eye on the cloud layer.

I headed to River to Sea Preserve, which is located near Marine World. No, I don’t care to see captive whales and dolphins at that aging facility. I started walking at the pond, soon entering the hammock with its over-hanging oaks and thick underbrush of small trees, shrubs and saw palmetto. I soon began to see tiny flowers, several I could not name, but I was already familiar with Wild Coffee and Beauty Bush. I also encountered a handsome but funny Black Buzzard. Disturbed by my approach along the grassy path, instead of flying off, he hopped up the lane with me following him — I was going back to the car. Finally, he hopped up onto a fence post where he posed briefly for a portrait and then finally flew up. The buzzards are magnificent flyers but look quite silly hopping along the ground.

Next, I headed to Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, which is further south off A1A (the local coastal highway in Florida). I started my walk in the Bella Vista Nature Trail. A portion of the trail was blocked off, so I walked the half mile up the old A1A and entered the loop from the north. Again, I passed several plants beginning to bloom, although for the most part the blooms were insignificant and probably are not noticed by many humans. I did note some wild grape coming into fruit, very tiny fruit. Probably would appeal to the birds.

Next, I headed to the formal gardens and then walked the Mala Compra Trail (.5 one way) and looped around to the Rose Garden.

I am discovering a deep interest in horticulture and might consider learning about native plant horticulture. The plants at Washington Oaks are primarily subtropical specimens from several regions, but mostly Asia. It is fortunate they aren’t invasive, but that has occurred too often with garden plants imported from elsewhere. There are Bird of Paradise bushes in the garden nearly as big as my Kia! Still, it is a lovely place to spend some time wandering around.

When I finally got back to the car, I was tired, having hiked about four miles the previous day. I’m getting plenty of exercise these days.

The horizon was fading into gray as the cloud ceiling descended — rain was near. Even as I turned onto SR 100 fat drops began to strike the windshield. Gollee… I timed it well yet again.

The rain didn’t last long and I went home to prepare a quick lunch of scrambled eggs, beef hash, and onions with buttered toast and guacamole on the side. Yumm. No, folks, I’m not a vegetarian. My body fares better with some (not a lot) animal or fish protein. Years ago I got really sick on a macrobiotic diet with a lot of soy products. It took me years to recover… Not every body is meant to be vegetarian in this plane of existence. No advice, please. Diet is a personal thing.

Anyway, enjoy your weekend. We’re going to have rain showers and possible tornadoes and high winds. It seems to be the weekly diet for the weather this year — and it isn’t normal at all.

In joy,

Eliza

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Film? I have a digital camera! I haven’t shot film since before I left Puget Sound…

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