I enjoyed being with Ryan, Papaw, and Gramma for another long weekend. On Thursday while Ryan was in classes I took a walk at Uptown Altamonte with the grandparents and fed some ibis.
They were pretty competitive. It seems strange to be somewhere that these birds are so common you can feed them bread in a park!
The big gnarly trees with Spanish moss reminded me of when we used to live in South Carolina.
I spent Friday with Ryan at the school watching his classes and going to chapel. We also had some time to sneak away and go shopping for a few hours.
On Friday night we enjoyed supper at Uncle Andy and Aunt Vicki's along with a picture show from Zach's recent trip to the Congo. Then we got to see the shuttle launch, my first and last. We watched it blast off on the TV and then ran out to watch it come out above the trees. We watched it level off and speed out towards the horizon until the boosters dropped off. Its amazing to me that you can see the bright burning rockets even though they are many miles away! This launch was scheduled to be the last ever night shuttle launch since the shuttle program is set to end in a few years.
This is the backyard at Papaw and Gramma's. On Sabbath afternoon Papaw spotted a big bird down on the dock (you can barely see it in this picture) but it was odd because its legs weren't long enough for a heron. We got out the binoculars and realized it was a heron but it was sitting down on its "elbows" so-to-speak with his legs laid out in front of it. None of us had ever seen a big shore bird rest like this. While I was watching it through the binoculars, I noticed a head peek over the edge of the dock - it was an otter! It climbed on the dock and started rolling around playing. It was so fun to watch. Sadly by the time I ran back to get my camera a pontoon boat had come along and scared it away.
So I got to see some really neat FIRSTS this weekend: a shuttle launch and a wild otter!
PS: I wished I'd had some shorts like Ryan - it was 86 one of the days I was there! Now I'm back to TN in the mid 40's and it feels strangely wonderful! 86 just didn't feel like fall or almost Thanksgiving.
Take #2 - Stephanie and I smile nicely while the goofs behind us... well... lets just say, Ryan and Carrie are NOT as bashful as they used to be...
They were pretty competitive. It seems strange to be somewhere that these birds are so common you can feed them bread in a park!
I spent Friday with Ryan at the school watching his classes and going to chapel. We also had some time to sneak away and go shopping for a few hours.
This is the backyard at Papaw and Gramma's. On Sabbath afternoon Papaw spotted a big bird down on the dock (you can barely see it in this picture) but it was odd because its legs weren't long enough for a heron. We got out the binoculars and realized it was a heron but it was sitting down on its "elbows" so-to-speak with his legs laid out in front of it. None of us had ever seen a big shore bird rest like this. While I was watching it through the binoculars, I noticed a head peek over the edge of the dock - it was an otter! It climbed on the dock and started rolling around playing. It was so fun to watch. Sadly by the time I ran back to get my camera a pontoon boat had come along and scared it away.
