Last Day of February

For those of you who have just met me recently and think I don't know snow, I've shivered through my share of winters and even survived the Blizzard of 78 (although I don't have the tee shirt). However, my fondest memories are when my age was in the single digits and snow meant a big hill and a sled.

The DH certainly doesn't miss this activity during February a few years ago at our Ohoho estate. I say estate because that's what it seems like when you're shoveling that much snow off the grounds.

No snow plows down this street, and I don't believe the drive has been shoveled. Uh-huh, these scenes were in February, and in case you thought you were imagining things, that is still the Christmas greenery adorning the fence. Some years it didn't come down til it fell down.

Ah, last February in northern Florida we were dipping our toes in the Gulf. Well, I was - still a little chilly for the DH.

Today in sunny southwest Florida on the last day of a very short month which included Valentine's Day, the delightful daughter's birthday, the son-in-law's too, Mardi Gras, Edison's festival of lights, President's Day (and a visit from 44) ... we're happy to be here and wish you were here too.

Snow Birds

Even though we are in the midst of a recession/depression, everybody, but everybody flies to Florida for the winter months - especially our feathered friends. These beauties were feeding at the Ding Darling Refuge on Sanibel. At another sanctuary just a bit to our south several individuals were arrested for shooting and killing a number of protected birds and leaving them where they fell.

http://www.winknews.com/news/local/39876842.html

No splashing in the pool and the tourists have to keep their distance.

White pelicans travel in flocks and are different from the more common brown pelicans we see all the time. The white pelicans fish while swimming instead of diving (sometimes from great heights) for dinner like the brown ones do. Is that an alligator in the foreground?

This is a roseate spoonbill, which we don't see very often. The first time I saw a group of them, I assumed they were flamingos. Well, they are pink.

Don't know what this bird is. Only one I've ever seen - looks like a duck with long legs.

So......are you a snow bird?

Lights in the Night

We're not always at the beach although I'd like to be. We're on the lanai, waiting for the sun to set and the light show to begin. It's rather like the 4th of July with parades and music and fireworks etc. However, it's February so it's the Edison Festival of Lights. We have to have something to compensate for our lack of bright snow and shiny ice.

The fireworks are not on the river so we are looking inland off our back deck.

Ooooooh............

Ahhhhhhh...................

Now it's really dark, but if you look closely, you can see the fairy lights on the masts of some of the sailboats. Edison: he the man. Well, at least, until the Bosox get here.

Under Sail

This sailboat lives in the marina below us, and I never tire of watching it go out into the river on its way to the Gulf.

Of course, it's heading in the wrong direction, but there's all that to do about hoisting the sails and heading into the wind ... well, I suppose if Teddy Kennedy can do it, anybody can.

Now there are two sails catching the wind, and the boat is turning to go down river.

A vision of grace and beauty and serenity.

This one is just waiting to go home with you. Not quite so graceful on dry land, but what girl can resist a sailor?

Back to the Beach

Yikes.......it's a beach snake. Lots of people think so, but it is actually the egg case of the whelk shell ... empty. A group of tourists asked me whether I could identify this strange creature [I must just look smart], and I stumbled through an explanation - in French. And you thought you'd never need your high school French - or was that Algebra?

That's a whelk at the top of the photo and a paper fig at the bottom. Obviously, this whelk is too small to have produced that egg case.

Sanibel is the world's greatest habitat for shells.....and mosquitoes. Paradise has a price. In order to make life tolerable, the mosquito squad sprays and sprays and sprays with trucks and planes and helicopters and ... despite such stringent efforts, we find an occasional intruder in our condo.

Ah, here's where some of those sea shells end up.

Yes, the Shell Museum (whatever that means), a place we drive by and remark: "Hey, we should go there some day." Never happened. Just as well. The outside of the building is fabulous. The inside? Save your money. Go to the beach.

Present

The sheriff's boats, the harbor patrol, the police boats all roamed the river in front of the Harborside Event Center in order to protect our President.

The helicopter from the local sheriff''s office circled the area. Just one. I had expected a flock.

The US Coast Guard boats were at the ready. There was a sniper on the roof and the traffic on the bridge was shut down during departure.

Unfortunately, the only people who actually saw the President were the ones inside the Event Center or the ones who greeted Air Force One at RSW. The procession passed the throngs lined along MLK Boulevard at 50 miles per hour, and the presidential limos drove straight into the building, ignoring the crowd which had hung around for hours, waiting for a glimpse of the leader of the free world. So I actually saw more from my window with my binoculars. The world's most mobile grandchild will be impressed when I tell him that his Nenah saw the motorcade.

Waiting for Obama

Lines of traffic and no parking places. Of course, the news media is here - check out the satellite tower.

The police are here, but none of the president's men. Oh, they're here,but shh......undercover.

The crowd has thinned out. These are just people waiting for their rides. Floridians lined up around the building starting yesterday afternoon, waiting for free tickets to be handed out at 9AM today. Supposedly 1500 available, but there were actually only 250 distributed (2 per person - you do the math). Some were angry.

And this building down the block from the Harborside Event Center represents the downside of the economy and explains why the president is coming here. A presidential visit is an honor, isn't it?

Tom's Flowers

This giant bougainvillea is hard to ignore when you're driving by the Edison Estate.

And who could ignore a blooming lipstick tree?

A bust of his wife, Mina Edison, in the memory garden.

I hope those of you who are surrounded by all that snow and ice during these gray winter days appreciate this burst of color. Edison did.