Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Florida Safari Adventures
The 32nd Annual Florida Safari started at the Suwanee County Fairgrounds in Live Oak.
We, as tradition dictates, set our tent under the arena. Since the extended weather forecast predicted heavy thunder storms for Saturday afternoon, other tents were already there when we arrived.
Saturday's 43 mile ride took us past the Florida Sheriffs Boys Ranch, where we stopped to enjoy drinks and snacks.
In the afternoon, we watched the clouds roll in and listened to the thunder - waiting for the predicted storm.
And, then the rain began to fall!
Uh - oh! Will the water reach our tent?
An hour later, the rain stopped and people were checking the damage.
________________________________________________________
Sunday morning, after an all-you-care-to-eat breakfast that included pancakes, sausage/bacon, grits, home fries, cereal, milk and juice, we ventured out on our bikes. Our friend, Ron, wore his 'street clothes' to breakfast. "It's going to rain," said Ron. "I don't ride in the rain."
About four miles out, a drizzle began to fall; with no sign of letting up. We turned around and rode back to camp.
Here's Ron. Pretending to read in his car and laughing at us.
As we ate an early lunch at the local DQ, the sky turned blue and the sun began to shine. The three of us rode a relatively flat 25 mile route.
We needed to get back for the fresh Southern Florida corn on the cob, don't you know.
Karen and John enjoying their tasty corn!
Ummmm-mmmmm!
________________________________________________________________________
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Easter 2012
We visited the Little People and their parents.
First on the agenda, a walk around the park and along the stream.
Who brought the breadcrumbs?
Enough, already! The car is over there!
___________________________________________
El glued the pictures onto the 'X' and 'I' pages of her ABC book.
The finished pages were slipped into plastic sheet protectors, then put into a notebook.
What a nice ABC book you made!
___________________________________________________
Easter Sunday luncheon. Soon the fun of the egg hunt will begin!
Look at all those eggs!
Run, Little Miss El!
Silly string fun!
____________________________________________________________________
The 'birthday boy' with an Easter bunny cake!
Artistically decorated, too!
______________________________________________________
And then, it happened!
Uncle Curt caught an 'imaginary'.
"Only the boys," Uncle Curt said to Noah.
But, Little Miss El was too fast!
She caught that 'imaginary' and showed it to 'only the girls!'
____________________________________________________
Thursday, April 05, 2012
Institute for Learning in Retirement
Fifteen years ago, Miami University began its Institute for Learning in Retirement. Five weeks in the Spring, five weeks in the fall, all the classes you care to take for one price each session.
Last fall, classes were offered on Wednesdays at the Voice of America campus for the first time. This Spring, classes are being offered four days.
I signed up for three classes: Exploring the Cincinnati Art Museum, Genealogy and Natural History Sampler.
The gal from the C.A.M. is just a bundle of energetic information! Genealogy has opened my eyes to many resources.
Today's Natural History Sampler dealt with birds. First came the lecture, then we went outside to observe bird banding. The temperature was just above 40 degrees, the wind was blowing and there was little sun! Brrr!
The federally licensed bird banders arrived this morning at 8:00 to set up a net in which to catch the birds. You can see the pole on the right side of the picture with a net stretched across.
The unsuspecting birds get caught in the net, then are carefully put into mesh bags.
Three captured birds in their mesh bags.
If a lot of birds have been captured, the bags are hung on the line.
Look at the face on the goldfinch!
She will be banded, weighed and measured.
Each bird has its own 'band' number. All of the information is sent to Washington D.C.
The birds are placed upside down in a funnel that fits in the yogurt cup to be weighed.
The goldfinch is ready to fly away! "Enough already!"
A red-winged blackbird. He's been banded, weighed and measured.
His feathers are inspected to see how old he is.
He is a young bird - his colors are more an orange than the red they will be when he is older.
His feathers are inspected to see how old he is.
He is a young bird - his colors are more an orange than the red they will be when he is older.
__________________________________________
Now, how cool is that?!?
_______________________________________________
