Wolf Lake

Wolf Lake is located on 76th Avenue between Griffin and Stirling Roads in Davie. I discovered it this morning when I was out looking for Australian pine trees to take pictures of ... because they are an invasive exotic species, I needed a photo to show to my students during discussions of exotic plants. And, lo and behold! Here was a place shaded by these viscious pines that seems totally removed from the craziness of living with 1.7 million other people.

It was actually peaceful and quiet, as you see in the photo. There was a mama Muscovy duck and her little ducklings for company, so I wasn't completely alone.

Needles & Threads

This beautiful yarn, called "Magic Sparkle Yarn" is found on Etsy, a fantastic web site that I've been browsing for a couple of weeks now.

The problem is, I can't make up my mind which one(s) I want.

I wonder if others have this problem ... I have three babies coming in the next four months and I want to create precious one-of-a-kind gifts for each one.

Lordy! Lordy! I've got to get up and go and get this stuff!

It's all so beautiful! If you haven't been there, I suggest you visit! I'm sure you'll love it as much as me!

Maybe we'll run into each other!

what's in a name?

I live along the eastern side of Broward County (which, for those of you who don't know, is located between Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties) in sunny south Florida and the current population is estimated to be around 1.7 million. I work along the western side of Broward County, close to the edge of what we commonly refer to as "the Everglades."

Yesterday I got into a conversation with a couple of my neighbors and they were asking me and my husband if we had noticed the ibis flocks flying over every evening at dusk, to we which we replied, "That's why we're sitting here on the bench ... waiting for them!"

It was a pleasure to tell my neighbors that the University of Miami has studied the wading bird populations (of which the ibis is just one) and recently reported that their numbers are at levels we haven't seen since the 1940s. Which explains why, for the first time in recent memory, we're observing large flocks of birds flying from the Everglades to the beach to roost for the night. I also told my neighbors that early in the morning, just after dawn breaks, you can also watch them flying back west to the Everglades for the day's foraging for food.

We've all noticed an increase in the presence of wading birds this past year, despite the rampant development and redevelopment that's going on around us. I've captured photos of great blue herons, wood storks, flocks of ibis and snowy egrets to name a few. And, during the school year the children delighted in their frequent proclamations about seeing these birds at the parks and in their back yards. For far too long we could only see them in pictures and photographs. What a joy to see them right before our eyes!

The postcard above is from my "historic photo file." It is a circa 1947 postcard, when Florida was beginning to emerge as a winter tourist destination. Before the paving of the Everglades, the wildlife was abundant in south Florida, and there are many of us (myself included) who are hoping, praying and working to make the Everglades restoration project a success.

For those of you reading this, whoever you are, wherever you might be, please know that this restoration project is as important to you as it is to those of us living here. The Everglades is an environmental treasure worthy of preservation. Without it, global warming will most assuredly change life as we know it!

Marjorie Stoneman Douglas writes in her now classic book, "River of Grass" the most beautiful description I've ever read:
"There are no other Everglades in the world. They are, they have always been, one of the unique regions of the earth, remote, never wholly known. Nothing anywhere else is like them: their vast glittering openness, wider than the enormous visible round of the horizon, the racing free saltness and sweetness of their massive winds, under the dazzling blue heights of space."

a tree on the corner ...

I stopped to get gas yesterday morning and I had to wait in line. It seemed everyone else stopped to get gas, too! While waiting in my car, I noticed the tree, pictured here, and wondered what in the world was growing out of it. The tree appears to be dead, but not knowing what it was, and having the camera handy, I couldn't resist the impulse to get out of the car and take pictures. Naturally, a BIG SUV took advantage of my good nature and cut in front of me, but I didn't let him bother me. Why, I even smiled at him when he got out of his car to pump gas. See the guy standing in the background on the street? He was so interested in what I was doing that he forgot to sell his newspapers. After I got gas, I noticed that he had walked over to the tree and was examining it.

I truly believe in the old adage, "What goes around comes around." So I leave it to God or fate or Mother Nature (whoever's in charge) to take care of the bullies in life. Then, I say a little prayer that they will learn to wait their turn!

the dance of childhood

As long as I can remember, I have loved ballet. When I was a little girl, maybe five or six years old, my mother enrolled me in Mrs. O'Laker's dancing school in my hometown of Hopewell, Virginia. And, how I loved going to ballet class! It was my escape from the pain of childhood ...

We had to wear black leotards and pink tights with pink ballet slippers and my mother got me a little pink bag with the silhouette of a ballet dancer on it. I can clearly remember my excitement before each class, knowing I would get to wear my "dancer's clothes" and do plié and jeté, and at the end of class I could try to do a pirouette (to whirl or spin). I remember the day I did a complete pirouette and Mrs. O'Laker didn't correct me or scold me for incorrect technique --- It was a day of complete and utter joy!

I've taken ballet classes off and on for years. Today, some 50 years since that first pirouette, I am still doing ballet. Twice a week I don my black leotard, black tights and my pink ballet slippers and I take class with retired ballerinas who dance much better than me. But, one thing is certain: no one dances more enthusiastically than me! I may not be able to do double pirouettes because of an old ankle injury, but the single I can do is done with as much precision and good technique as I can muster!

I don't have any illusions that I'll dance on a stage, for that's not why I do it. I do it because it feels so wonderful! I love the barre work and I am challenged by the center work. For the hour or 90 minutes of class, I am so busy thinking about which way my foot should point, is my elbow up, are my shoulders down, am I holding my stomach in and lifting up out of the rib cage that I simply don't have time to think about anything else. Ballet is as good for my head as it is for my body and I simply cannot imagine life without it!

The photograph above was recently given to me by an aunt. I'm the tall one. The little girl is my cousin, Sharon, and we were "ballerinas" one day while our mothers were doing whatever it was they did when they got together. The little boy is my brother, Jim, and he is still a superhero and cat lover. He has four cats at his apartment and has always had cats ... as long as I remember.

I have a little mobile hanging over my desk of a dancing fairy with a pink ribbon tied around her waist and little charms with these words:

There ARE shortcuts to happiness
and DANCING is one of them!

Hang on, baby ... Friday's ... HERE!

This time last week I was in Key West, visiting with some old friends. I was fortunate that my job allowed me to attend the American Water Resources Association conference at the Casa Marina ...

Yesterday I was going through photographs I shot while visiting, and I created a little collage in Photoshop for my boss, Mike, and his daughter, Katie. They kept me company during our stay there since I was the only one of our group traveling solo. I thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent together, laughing, visiting around that wonderful island city and just enjoying each other's company.

Everyone should have a boss as nice as mine! He's a great guy!

I've been gone too long ...

I'm not entirely sure that anyone every read anything I wrote. And, if truth be told, it doesn't really matter. I read today in my "Artful Blogger" magazine that there are 71 million blogs out there. So, who cares what I write here besides me?

Exactly!

One of my favorite things is pictures. I love visual images of things. I take lots and lots of photos with the digital camera and have even been lucky enough to get a few good shots here and there. This stone angel is one of those.

You'll find her in the back yard of a friend of mine who lives in Coral Gables. His yard is beautifully landscaped, with mostly Florida native plants. And, he has the biggest rosemary bush I've ever laid eyes on! But, it was the stone angel that stole my heart and I was just tickled pink that her photograph was one of those that came out well. With the digital photography thing I've learned you have to just shoot like crazy and wait til you get 'em up on the computer to see how they come out.

Which leads me back to the beginning of my thing about loving pictures. I love to look at other people's photos. There are a tremendous number of artsy web sites and blogs that provide me with all the visual stimulation I could ask for, too. And, I love magazines and newspapers and all the photos they publish. I'm a big fan of VOGUE and Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion. So, I have lots of inspirations to draw on and I'm going to take up the challenge of "blogging" every week.

Who knows, maybe I'll find myself to be prolific and I'll "blog" every day! We'll just have to see what happens ... which is the real fun of it all!

If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?
mmmmmm mmm mmm mmm mmm --- Vince Lombardi

10th panther
dies from
auto accident

Posted by Naples Daily News
on Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2006

A 10th Florida panther has been killed in a vehicle collision this year, tying a mark for the deadliest year on record for the big cats.
A female Florida panther was struck and killed on U.S. 41 East at around 11 p.m. Sunday between Manatee Road and Collier Boulevard, said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist Darrell Land in an e-mail.
The cat was not wearing a radio collar, nor did it have a transponder chip, so the panther's existence and location were unknown until its body was found. The panther was killed 1.5 miles east of Collier Boulevard within a few hundred yards of a middle school and an elementary school on a stretch of U.S. 41 that is slated to be widened from two to six lanes in coming years.
The roadkill record was set at 10 in 2003. Last year, nine panthers died after getting hit.
Scientists estimated between 70 and 100 Florida panthers are left, making the species one of the most endangered on the planet. Almost all of them live south of Lake Okeechobee.
Vehicle collisions are the top known killer of Florida panthers. Since 1972, 93 panthers have died on Florida's roads — 55 of those since 2000. This year, 10 panthers have been killed on highways, with the most recent being Sunday on U.S. 41 East between Manatee Road and Collier Boulevard.
In a separate report, six panthers have been struck in seven incidents in this same vicinity.
The reason for the discrepancy: A 4-year-old female panther was injured in a collision on July 11, 2004. After being nursed back to health for 10 months, the cat was released. Within two days, she returned to the bridge and was killed.

water shortage

Saturday after Thanksgiving
Quiet in the neighborhood. The bounce house next door has disappeared for another year and the neighbor's driveway is no longer overflowing with family vehicles. We had a few days of cool-to-cold weather which seems to have put people in the "holiday" spirit. Today, it's gray, overcast and rainy. I can't complain though, because they're telling us we had the driest October on record and we're under voluntary water restrictions. Palm Beach County is under mandatory restrictions because Lake Okeechobee is very low ... lower than it should be.

I spend so many of my days talking to fourth and fifth grade students about water. Wetlands and how they work. Water pollution and what we can each do to prevent it. But, nowhere in my studies have I seen how to address the issue of water shortage. I think it might be time to dig in and do some research. If we've got the same amount of water on the planet all the time (in different forms, of course), then where is the water that used to be here going?

Think about it. Then, do something...

A bird on the head...

Friday, July 7 was an amazing day. Mother Nature interfered with my ability to do my work, but it the most fun I've had in quite some time!
Around 10 AM, a commissioner came in to pick up his paperwork for next week's meeting and told us that a bird had tried to land on his head. Being the curious type, I went outside to see if I could locate the bird. The temperature outside was very near 90 degrees, the skies were quite overcast and humidity was hovering around 99%. I was wearing a wool sweater because my boss keeps the thermostat set at meat locker temps. So, there I am, standing in the parking lot, looking up into a mahogany tree, trying to locate this bird. The commissioner came to the door and pointed at the tree and said, "There it is." At just that moment, I caught site of the bird and it bird swooped down and landed right on my head!
The remainder of the day was spent with this bird plucking at my earrings and generally interfering with my work! He/she was quite friendly and very accustomed to riding around on the shoulder of a human. It did fuss quite a bit when I talked on the phone. It would move from shoulder to shoulder, fussing all the while, and every effort to change ears was to no avail. This guy/gal just didn't like it when I talked on the phone and was quite vocal about it!
My office mate, Carmen, enjoyed the bird, too. It seems she's never had that kind of exposure to a bird, so at first she was scared of it. But, by the afternoon, she was quite comfortable with our little feathered friend. (See picture, above!)
When the District crew came in from the field a little after 3 PM, they identified the bird as a Quaker Parakeet. I thought it was some kind of parrot, so that just goes to show you how much I know about birds. Then, Scottie informed me he had rescued one from a cat a few weeks earlier and he'd taken it home and adopted it. Unfortunately, he said, it had been de-feathering itself lately. He said he'd visited the old Chinaman at the bird shop up on Davie Road and the old Chinaman said the bird needed a mate.
So, I said, "Hey, Scottie: wanna take this bird home?"
To which he responded, "You bet!"
I never had a day when a bird landed on my head before this one. I once served as foster parent to an injured dove who liked to ride around on my head, but that's not the same as this.
Friday, July 7 will stand out in my mind as an unusual day. Maybe it's nature's way of directing wildlife that can't survive in the wild. Maybe I was just in the right place at the right time. Whatever the reasons, I sure did enjoy the company and the distraction and I hope he/she is enjoying his new home.