April 22, 2001
Wow! The last day of volunteering! I made some mention of our impressions of volunteering on the Joy's page. I find sitting here at the remote gate to be one of mixed pleasures. While I really don't like getting up at 3:15 AM to open the gate at 4:30, I've come to know some of the hunters a little bit, and have been privileged to taste the fruit of their labors. I took some pictures (you'll see them later) of a couple of the turkeys taken, and the hunters were kind enough to share some of the meat with us. It had been cut into chunks and deep fried and was delicious! I got the best of that trade (pictures for meat) for sure!
We had the pleasure of a visit from some friends who now live in Palm Bay, FL, who used to live in Seattle. Ken and Sandy attended the same church we did in Federal Way. Ken played bass in the band there, and Sandy was a Sunday School teacher. Barb and I were teaching a class on how to share your faith, and Sandy was in the class. Sometime during the class, Sandy learned that we'd been through the small group bible study that Crown Financial Ministries has dealing with how to handle your money. Since that study had made such a positive impact on her sister, Sandy was insistent that we lead that study as well. I didn't think I wanted more to do, so I told Sandy that if she got permission from the Pastor and Elders and got some students together, that we'd take the leaders training and do it. She went right at it, and it wasn't long before she and Ken were part of the first group to go through the class at Christ's Church of Federal Way. They in turn led a group, and Barb and I led several more, and got so much out of doing it and enjoyed seeing the impact of learning what God has to say about a person and their "stuff," that we're doing it again right here in Avon Park at a local church. We hope to make that our winter project wherever we land. It's a 12-week study and pretty intense. Anyway, the second picture is proof that it can get warmish here in FL. But mostly it's a picture of a lizard that was "flashing" for a mate. These little guys have a bright orange flap under their chin that they extend to attract a mate. They just flash it, and it's nearly impossible with the digital camera to capture a shot of it, although we've both tried a lot to catch it.
On the left is a Jacaranda tree. Beautiful, striking almost purple flowers and no leaves at this point in its seasonal transition. There is a hotel in Avon Park called The Jacaranda, but until we spotted this distinctive tree and looked it up in one of Barby's many books, we didn't even know there was a tree by that name. And in the picture on the right we have Jean on the left, Stan with his back to us, me on the truck and Merle on the right. Don't know where Stan's wife Diane and Barb were off to, but this crew was getting ready to ride around Lake Jackson. About an 8-mile ride and virtually flat, so we could all do it without any medical aid crews. And we did, and it was a great trip. Lots of fancy homes, plenty of birds, and I even got to talk to a couple of fishermen in their boat.
This is the bird that Larry (on the left) got. I really think the turkey is one of the most brilliantly colored birds down here. Their feathers are iridescent, and a gobbler doing his strutting is really a colorful show. And, besides, they really taste good! This bird was a good size at around 17#. Largest so far this year has been about 19#. That's George on the right.
On Sunday the 15th, Jennie and Don came to visit. Jennie is Barb's sister and they live in MA. Jennie just retired and they wanted to get out of the cold. The next day we were giving them the tour of the facility here, and as we were going down the road, here came John in his truck toward us. We pulled over and he stopped and told us he was on his way to Hunt Headquarters to check in his bird. Well, what an opportunity for Jennie and Don (and Barb too, for that matter) to see a wild turkey. Before we got finished taking pictures, here came the rest of the crew, so George, John, and Larry got in the picture. And just to round things out, the "tourists" got the privilege of having their picture taken with some of the local hunters as well. Great fun for all of us. Turned out that yesterday, George got his bird. But because I was home goofing off and not on duty or giving tours, I didn't get a picture of George and his bird. Dang.
Now this really should be on the Stupid Stunts page. That bush Barb is walking to is called the Spanish Bayonet (also known as a Spanish dagger). She was attracted by the pretty flowers and wanted to smell them. As you can see in the picture on the right, she's not very close to the flower. That's because on a previous trip out here, she'd learned very pointedly why the plant has the name it does. She got stabbed royally in the chest area by about six or eight of its sharp, needle-like leaves as she leaned into it to smell the flowers!! I thought I'd die laughing, once I learned no skin had been broken and she was going to live through the ordeal.
Part of the tour includes checking out the blue bird boxes. There are 100 of them throughout the facility. The process is that you approach the box from the side. Knock politely on the side of the box, allowing any occupant to depart with its dignity intact. Then raise the front of the box, and inside is the little paper cup that the birds build their nests in; this nest had 5 eggs in it. Usually only 4 of the 5 will hatch, but it was fun to see one that had that many in it. Then the tour takes us down to the river where Fort Kissimmee used to be, and that graveyard I've shown earlier. Only this time on the back side of the cemetery (what's the difference between a "graveyard" and a "cemetery"?), Don, Jennie, and Barb saw what they called a "huge" turtle. I was off watering some shrubs and didn't see a thing. They got all excited, took off walking as fast as they could through the sand, yelling at me to hurry up, get the camera and follow them. Very exciting. Except there was no turtle. Seems it had wandered off into the brush. Well, I'm not about to sit here and dispute what my wife, her sister and her brother-in-law saw, but.... it seems to me that no turtle in the world can go as fast as they were going, but when they got to the other side and I'd joined them, all huffing and puffing, there was no turtle to be seen. Barb went poking around in the brush and found this hole, but I can't tell if it's been dug by a gopher tortoise or a coyote, or just what. They seemed in agreement that it wasn't big enough for "their" turtle. Sure wish we'd have been able to get a picture of it.
Bugs! There are more and bigger bugs in FL than I've ever seen anyplace except maybe Hawaii. We're covered with huge mayflies this morning. The scenario repeated for three days and then they disappeared. From what we understand, they have a 24-hour lifespan: they hatch, mate, lay eggs, and die. Now I ask you, what's the point?
If I was to try to use one of these for the trout I'm used to catching in WA or CA, I'm afraid they'd chase the fish away!
Bugs notwithstanding, there are lots of pretty things in FL. At Cypress Gardens girls dressed in Antebellum period clothes walk around the park for photos. Lends a gracious air to an already beautiful place. They have a program called "Junior Belles" where parents can take their youngsters and for $50 get the hairdo, makeup, and dress to suit, and they can walk around the park for 2 hours. We saw plenty of them, and it was really fun to watch these young ladies with their full skirts parading around.
We took the paddlewheel boat cruise around the lake for a chance to sit down and see osprey nests and have the captain tell us about some of the history of the Gardens. It hurt a little, remembering that my brother Bill used to give tours like this in Flamingo as well as in Seward, AK. It's nice to know that because a reader of this site took the time to tell me he had a brother who worked for the Florida Highway Patrol, and put me in contact with him, that I'm eventually going to get all the details of the crash and have my questions answered. Thanks, Hubert. Then it was into the butterfly house. I'm so impressed with the variety and brilliance of these bugs.
Barby was quick enough to catch one that had landed on me. I could be mistaken, but I think it's the same kind that I managed to get a picture of on her during an earlier trip. And the dove was really pulling and tugging at that root between the rocks. Nest building perhaps? The doves and several other species of birds share this building with the butterflies.
Cypress Gardens has a small zoo, and this Emu was as interested in us as we were in it, apparently. The water ski show includes a clown, and I found it interesting that Jennie is as drawn to clowns as Barb is. Must be a family thing. Barb got wet from the clowns soaking costume, and we made the appropriate rude remarks about the clown wetting her.
The next day it was off to Universal Studios. Great fun to see some of the latest technology, particularly the 3-D stuff. I was more impressed with the hot rods and girls in front of Mels Diner who were singing songs from the 50's and 60's and carrying on. It was so difficult to decide which pictures of this place to put on the site, that these are the only two I even took!
And then the family went on with their trip and we went golfing with Stan and Diane. First time in years we'd golfed, and it was really fun. Because it was Stan's birthday, we all gathered at their place to celebrate. As you can tell from the sweaters and jackets, it had cooled off a bit. Somebody asked Stan how old he was, and then immediately apologized for asking if it wasn't a "nice" question. Stan said, no, it was an entirely appropriate question, and he promptly gave his age... in months. And then weeks. And then days!! Dang engineers anyway...... They were the kind of golfers we enjoy playing with, as there was no grumbling about poor shots, and no dawdling around. We made the 18 holes in just under 4 hours. Best game (except for the score) I've had, I think. Of course, it's been probably 5 years since we've played a regulation course of 18 holes, too.
And just as I was finishing up this update, about 1:00 PM or so, here comes Carl with his bird. Nice one, about 15 pounds or so. Both Carl and I admired the beautiful colors that these birds have. And that's it for this time.