Many of you know that recently we presented a two hour “Atlantic Crossing” video here in The Villages, based on our trip from North Carolina to Europe aboard our sailboat Liberty. Unfortunately, our dear friends Sharon and Joyce were unable to attend, as they had to take their parrot Bongo to the Pet Hospital E.R. in Ocala for a stomach ailment. Fortunately, Bongo has recovered, and we were able to invite them over for movie night and pasta. Bongo opted to stay at home; he was afraid he was going to get seasick. Imagine our surprise when we opened the front door and these two comediennes were wearing bright orange PFDs (personal flotation devices), as if they were about to jump from the deck of the Titanic (or, fill in the name of several other cruise liners that have made headlines over the past few years). They redeemed themselves with a box of yummy cookies, a delicious Greek salad, and a mildly inebriated seagull that had swallowed a very nice bottle of Pinot Noir… and yes, I was able to save most of the wine from his gullet…
Speaking of boats, we passed three golf carts towing boat trailers the other day. WHAT? How can a golf cart tow a boat trailer? Okay, so they were model powerboats, the radio controlled variety, but it was still a pretty cool sight.
Have you heard of Moonies?… not the wacky type, but people who look at the moon and admire earth’s only natural satellite. Yes, I admit to having that affliction. Did you know that in our solar system, the moon is the largest natural satellite relative to its primary (the planet a satellite revolves around). The moon has 27% the diameter and 60% of the density of earth, making it the second most dense satellite after Io, a satellite of Jupiter. This shot was taken the evening before full moon, so the object in the bell tower here isn’t perfectly round, but I thought it looked pretty interesting. A piece of trivia: the full moon has throughout history been associated with insanity, and the words lunacy and lunatic derive from the Latin name for the Moon, luna.
This bird, believed to be a female Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) atop our lanai “birdcage” is building a nest with her mate in our shrubs. She looks much fatter than her husband, and we think she is pregnant. We will keep you apprised of the outcome if we are here when the little birds hatch. Mockingbirds are very intelligent birds, but are also notorious mimickers, as its scientific name, “many tongued mimic”, implies.
Not only do they regularly mimic other birds, but they have also been heard to imitate car alarms. Mockingbirds are utterly fearless, and this photo shows a mockingbird attacking a much larger red-shouldered hawk.
You are probably aware of the cold weather we have been enduring here in The Villages of late. This morning I had to rig Rudy and Gretchen in their winter coats for their early morning constitutional. They look quite stylish, don’t you think? Hopefully this is the end of winter down here in Florida, although we will be taking their coats with us on the road… I think Glacier and Banff National Parks might be a tad cold, even in July.
1 Comment
Jennifer
Gretchen and Rudy look beautiful..I bet
Gretchen would look nice in a tan suede coat as well and Rudy in a black coat..