Tropical Picspam

[bironic]

I spent most of spring break last week down in Florida with my grandparents. My second day there, we visited a nature preserve around the corner from their house. It was like a little slice of the Everglades clinging for dear life in the middle of suburbia. (Welcome to Florida: senior community, senior community, Walgreens drug store, Publix supermarket, strip mall, senior community, wildlife preserve, doctors' offices, senior community. Sprawl, sprawl, sprawl.) We saw a lot of animals for a mile-long boardwalk loop. Probably because they have nowhere else to go.



These birds were everywhere. They'd stand absolutely still for minutes at a time, then poke into the water and come up with a frog.






Turtles posed for us.






My current desktop.






So cute. So cute.






Lots of birds. Blackmare, you probably know what they all are. Nightdog, you would've enjoyed it too.














Around the corner, an iguana with an astonishingly long tail ambled across the lawn, considered a tree, and hopped up for a climb.






Next to the tree, Mr. Alligator Basking In The Sun.






Some of the birds just had beautiful plumage. (Feel free to pronounce with or without the Michael Palin accent.)






Naughty snakes. They curled and twined and jerked as we watched. Someone near us said the littler one is the male.






…And a tree by their neighbor's house for good luck.







These are my grandparents, by the way. That's my grandmother's walker he's leaning on; he's fine to walk.


   


My grandmother's 91 or 92, and has confined herself to the wheelchair because she's afraid to use her walker, having fallen a few times and broken various bones. Now she'll need physical therapy to walk again just because she's been sitting in the thing for so long.

Anyway, it was a nice visit. A glut of food and compliments, plus slow days, nice weather, and lots of sleep. I don't get down there much, and they love having family visit. They appreciated having an extra set of hands, too; something as simple as putting together vegetables for a pot roast or setting the table let my grandfather take a much-needed break from 24/7 care of his wife. Oh, and one afternoon two of her old friends came over to gossip, and it was like a sociohistorical study combined with that episode of House where the elderly couple was ambivalent about Viagra. After being widowed twice, one of the ladies had recently found a boyfriend on J-Date, and was boasting that he had a golf cart. …Okay, maybe you had to be there.

Comments

[zulu.livejournal.com]

A golf cart? Va va voom!

These are great pictures, wow. I haven't been anywhere tropical, um...ever? I think? So, wow.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

A golf cart? Va va voom!

Heh, exactly.

What kind of wildlife do you get up there, anyway? Squirrels, rabbits, marmots, caribou, rabid fangirls?

[zulu.livejournal.com]

The vast fangirl herds are truly a wonder to behold, especially during their peak season at the Banff Film Festival. They have been known to stampede, though.

Mostly what I see are rabbits. They're everywhere on campus, very poorly camouflaged since a lot of the snow has melted. Deer, yes, whitetails and mule deer. Squirrels, chipmunks, gophers, robins, chickadees, sparrows. Drive into the country a little way and you'll probably see coyotes. Foxes, bears on the side of the road. You can smell skunks. I've seen beaver and woodpeckers up on our bit of land. Pika in the mountains. Mostly that's what I've seen myself, though of course there's a whole bunch more out there.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

Wow. Awesome wildlife photography, yo.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Thanks! All I had to do was point the camera at all the animals hanging around, and hope the zoom didn't make things blurry. :)

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

*squees*

This was just what I needed! What great pictures. I think one of your birds is a great blue heron, and I'm pretty sure the brownish guy with the spread wings and the snaky neck is a cormorant. Not sure about the others -- I'd have to get out the book, or maybe Mare will know.

And your grandparents look awesome. Hee.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Happy to provide a little cheer in your day. ♥

They are indeed the best grandparents anyone could ask for. They also have really thick New York accents (my grandfather grew up in Brooklyn in the 30s) and sprinkle Yiddish into their conversations.

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking those pigeony-looking birdies with the orange beaks are Purple Gallinules.

*g*

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Ah! I'd say so, too. Beautiful.

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

Cool pix! Love the little fluff balls. And the 'gator. The turtles remind me of the comment "It's turtles all the way down" to describe the cosmos.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Is that from Pratchett, or have I embarrassed myself asking?

(Elizabeth: Oscar Wilde?
Sheppard: Princess Bride.)

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

LOL! I have no idea where the quote is originally from (which is why I cleverly didn't give a source in the original comment).

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turtles_all_the_way_down) says Hawking said someone else said it who may or may not have been Bertrand Russell its origins aren't clear, so you are off the hook. :D

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

It never ceases to amaze me what kind of articles one can find on Wikipedia.

[leiascully.livejournal.com]

Adorable, adorable, amazing, hilarious, and adorable! That sums up your photos for me.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

\o/ It was indeed an adorable and awesome (in its original sense) sort of day.

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

Awww, turtles! Obviously, I was instantly reminded of the Yertle the Turtle pile-up *g*. And your grandparents look very sweet.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Ha. I never read Yertle, but I see what you mean -- even down to the prim smugness of the turtle on top. :)

[jadesfire.livejournal.com]

These are fantastic pictures, really beautiful. The colours are so bright! Looks lovely :)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Sorry I didn't think to take pictures of the ducks for you, so they could say hi to your ducks.

[recrudescence.livejournal.com]

Aww, your grandparents look so happy. And that iguana's tail is crazy!

[thirdblindmouse.livejournal.com]

I shouldn't be jealous of snakes, should I? *sigh*

[musicisbelievng.livejournal.com]

beautiful plumage, the Norweigian blue...

[bironic.livejournal.com]

'xactly.