Check out this amazing flock of Roseate Spoonbills (along with Ibises, Great White Egrets, and Blue Herons) feeding at Mosquito Lagoon in Titusville, Fl. Â We were leaving the preserve after a bike ride and passed this commotion just at the right moment.
To see ONE is amazing. To see a whole flock of hot pink feathers gathered in one place is, in a word, SPECTACULAR.
The winds were strong last night as we took an evening stroll on the beach. We saw several kite surfers “catching air” and were able to collect lots of cool treasures that the surf had washed up shore. One treasure we found, however, was still alive!
Check out this conch’s alien-like googly eyes. 😀
​If you think running is just another way to burn calories, then you’ve either never really tried it or just never really understood it.
The act of running teaches you that pain is temporary but victory is infinite and that all those limitations you’ve placed on yourself were WRONG. It makes you one of the privileged few who gets to witness and ENJOY sunrises and sunsets regularly; it makes you cognizant of your surroundings and appreciative of nature. It helps you create friendships and strengthens the ones you already have. It simultaneously winds up your battery AND burns off a little bit of the crazy lurking inside of you. It takes you places you never thought you could go, both physically and emotionally.
If you don’t believe that humans can FLY, then you’ve never really run.
Everything in life has a beginning, middle, and an end. Running is a great metaphor for that. Have an amazing day!
Nature-Nerd Alert!!!! Saw this beautiful pink Roseate Spoonbill having dinner in a pond near my house and HAD to stop and capture it! They are so rare on South Florida’s east coast, especially outside of the Everglades.
I may have made a crazy u-turn and broken a few sprinkler heads to illegally park, but it was worth it!
Click on this link:
Push your body to the limits, surround yourself with healthy and happy people, be adventurous, respect the environment we live in and love with all your heart… Nothing else matters.
This is what I feel like doing today… that is all….
Mangroves are an important part of our ecosystem here in South Florida. Â They are trees that grow in brackish water along the intracoastal and serve as home to many living creatures, both in the water and on land. Â Many of the iconic pictures you see of Florida- especially pictures you see of the keys- feature these beautiful trees coming out of the water. Â The photo above is one that I took on a recent kayaking trip of some red mangroves and some beautiful ibises that were looking to snack on small fish and snails that were living beneath them.
Mangroves drop pencil-shaped floating pods into the water that serve as their seeds.- These are called propagules. Â One end of the propagule is heavier so that they float vertically, allowing the bottom end to sprout roots while the top end stays above water as the leaves and stems begin to grow. Â Propagules can float out to sea from Florida shores to different neighboring Caribbean countries. Â Inversely, we often get a few wash up on our shores from other places as well.
They can be found washed up on our beaches all the time and floating all over our intracoastal water ways. Â Turns out, they are easy to grown and actually make very pretty and easy to maintain house plants. Â I decided to collect a few propagules over the weekend and give it a try.
Here is a really cool YouTube video I found with great info on growing them in either dirt or in fresh water. Â They can also be grown in saltwater aquariums, but this would increase the amount of maintenance you would have to do on your tank.:
Finally, here are a few pics of my propagules by the windowsill. Â I’ll be filling you in on their progress:
Little Miss Sunshine State 