Crane Point

Crane Point held a street fair in the garden behind the museum today. We really went there for our normal daily walk, but stopped to see what was going on.

Our neighbor Sue was greeting people at the front door of the museum and putting red stickers on them.  She had just stuck a sticker on this smart aleck man and he jumped and howled as though she had stuck him with a pin.  It startled Sue and she also jumped and squealed.  We were lucky enough to walk up just in time to see it and get a good laugh at her expense
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Sue Got a Shock

A man and woman were there with a telescope for looking at the sun.  Whoa! Won't that blind me? The man explained that he has plenty of filters on the telescope so it would not be too bright.  Wow, I could actually see the small fringe of rays around the edge.  There were not any big solar flares today. Here is Andy taking his turn.

Andy Scoping Out the Sun

They also had a Sunspotter.  The woman had to explain it to me.  With holes and mirrors, an image of the sun appeared on the paper in the center (when the instrument was oriented correctly). The image was so clear; it looked like a photograph.  It would be perfect for watching an eclipse or Venus transiting the sun.

Sunspotter with Sun on Paper

After a quick walk through the art tables, we continued on our walk through the park. Thatch Palms are actually used to thatch roofs.

Thatch Palms Along Bahama Trail

Close-Up of Thatch Palm Leaf

The Golden Orb Weaver is huge. Her venom, similar to a Black Widow is potent but not fatal.  Her silk is exceptionally strong. Check out Wikipedia for a picture of a cape made from Golden Orb Weaver silk.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_silk_orb-weaver

Golden Orb Weaver

I had pretty good luck getting portraits of some of the birds in the bird hospital through the wire.

Green Heron

Osprey

Peregrine Falcon

Plumbago in Key RV

And that was the end of our walk.

Camp Chappy and Pelicans

We just returned home to Key RV after spending three nights camped with 12 other motor homes next to the Seven Mile Bridge. Yes, it was a three day party where we did little else but sit, eat, drink, talk and laugh. This is an annual event with our great group of motor home friends.

This year a huge group of pelicans was fishing right off the sea wall in front of us.  They fished there all day.  These are not the best pelican pictures you'll see, but they are some of the best I've been able to get. I hope you like them.

It was foggy day and especially early in the morning when we walked out on the Old Seven Mile Bridge. We could hardly see the new bridge, to the right in this picture. I was looking back to Key Vaca.  We could not see the island at all, but the sun reflecting off the surface of the bridge and into the fog made for an interesting effect.

Is Winter Over?

After a couple weeks of cold days and colder nights, today was beautiful.  We have changed from jeans and windbreakers to short pants and short sleeves. And, I am optimistic that it means winter is over. It's not unreasonable.  My observation over the seasons we have spent here is that "winter is two weeks in February".  Sometimes they come in December.  There may be a week or two of chilly days in January.

Desert Rose

It's not a spring flower; we are lucky to have flowers year round. These are in a large pot here in the RV Park.

We have been watching the weather and the news about the weather up north and it would be easy to gloat about our mild winter.  But, we are not gloating or gleefully reporting our cold snap to folks up north 50 degrees (or more) colder.  We are just grateful that a cold snap here typically means temperatures in the 50s.