03/06/2011

Venice update and happy hummingbird story

"A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." --- Thomas Mann

(Even doing this nothing little blog post ended up being unwieldy and time consuming. I think I must be, above all, a puzzle person.)

Upon arrival the locals rushed to check us out.

We're back in Florida. We've been here for a few days but have mostly spent the time getting settled, which we are now, more or less. We rented a little house on Alligator Creek which is part of Florida's 8,000 miles of shoreline. Like a lot of places on the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway), the house next door has a great dock on open water, big fish swimming around the pilings. Ours does not. All there is, or all that's left of whatever there was, is a creaky lopsided walkway that deadends in the mangroves and is slowing sinking into the shallow, murky water. If there ever was a dock at the end, it has completely vanished. As it stands, it would be absurd trying to launch even a canoe from it. No big deal. The mangroves are better off without us mucking it up. The fish and birds aren't the ones leaving trash in water. What's extra cool is that at night I can hear the discrete splash of critters (alligators?) slipping into the creek. Never heard anything like that before. Plus the house is great. Very comfy.

Home sweet temporary home

Plus this neighborhood just happens to have a private beach on the gulf. Residents are shuttled across the ICU on a tiny private ferry which makes the crossing every half hour throughout the day. We haven't done that yet but we did walk down to the beach from Nokomis last fall just to check it out. The best part is that it's a turtle nesting beach, mainly loggerheads. Of course, there's not much to see but it's not about us, is it? I just hope they survive human encroachment. But this stretch of coast is pretty mellow.

Anyway, here's a feel good video for your viewing pleasure. Falconers think they've got it going on but check out this fellow. And if you like the video be sure and read the full follow-up kandwarf posts in the description. Very cool.


6 comments:

Roy said...

Fearless little guys with big hearts.

asha said...

Did you read the follow-up on the story? Talk about a happy ending.

Roy said...

Oh...nice.

Word Verification: equatene n. Gel compound marketed by Dow Chemical which is characterized in advertising by its ability to make two things more or less equal when rubbed over both of them.

I had to try just a little too hard on that one, didn't I?

Bob said...

Oh dear me. That's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

Paula said...

Soooo sweet! I'm adding you to my blogroll, Asha. I started a new one a couple months back. :)

http://lightmotifs.wordpress.com

asha said...

Roy, it's got possiblitites.

Bob, definitely one of my all time favorites too.

Paula, nice to see your blog is back. I've added you to my list too. :)