The Most Cooperative Owl Ever

Decorated YOUR tree yet?

Even though nobody can really see our house in the woods, we still decorate the exterior with a few Christmas lights each year.
Sunday was tree and house decorating day. Emma handled most of it, but at one point I got inspired to decorate part of the massive live oak that lives in front of PFHQ.
So, Junior and I toted the massive RLL (Really Long Ladder) out and set it up.
I asked Emma to take a few shots while we were laddering and the next thing I knew ...


... SHE was up on the roof of the house shooting pics at eye level, even though I was quite arboreal at that moment.

Neither Emma or I fell from our lofty perches. Actually Junior may have had the most dangerous job since, as ladder stabilizer guy, he had to negotiate the vicious spiked bromeliads that grow around the base of the tree.

The big tree decorating went well, but we need a few more lights to finish it. Let's get to the owl ...

Earlier in the afternoon, just before the big tree inspiration struck, we had a most amazing owl encounter.

Okay, I know I have posted alot of Barred Owl pics here at Pure Florida, but yowza ... Sunday was the best owl day ever.

So please excuse the crazy person look below. I was just a little stoked about this owl who mostly ignored me while I practically touched his talons.


Even my winter coat can't hide my glee.

(Actually, I told my soccer girls, "I'm not shaving until you win a game!")

I may fit in with the ZZTop boys by January.


Back to the owl ...

I was stringing Christmas lights on the porch with my elf pal, Emma, when the owl swooped out of my woods and into the front yard.

My camera bag was in the kitchen, so I dashed inside, fully expecting the owl to be gone when I returned.

Not so!

It was still in the palm tree.

I shot about 3 distant, branch obscured insurance shots and started to move closer.

That's when the battery went dead.

Ack!

I redashed to the kitchen and speed loaded the camera.

Surely I had missed my owlpurtunity.

But no.

It was still there and now it was swooping down, eating something, and swooping back up.


Barred owl with bars of light.



I kept creeping closer, shooting, and creeping, shooting and creeping ... until finally it hit me that this owl was ignoring me.



So I walked slowly up until, at the end of our encounter, I was directly below it's low perch.

Only about 3 feet separated us.




As you might imagine, I shot about a zillion pics. This was the last light of the day and the sun kept slipping behind a narrow western band of clouds, so I was alternately using flash and natural light.


After a while, I left it where it was, to continue hunting whatever small beasties it was getting in it's owlcassional swoops to the ground.

Introducing Max and Harley

A few introductions ...

The bright-eyed fellow above is "Max". He is the new pet of daughter Katie and her sweetheart, Conner.
Officially Max belongs to Conner.
Yeah ... right.
Max is a rescue dog and shows every sign of being a great dog ... in a nonLabrador context. He and Bear get along great and they had lots of real quality play time over the Thanksgiving holiday.



The other introduction I need to make is "Harley".
Harley is one of those tiny goldfish that fairs give away as prizes.

Harley came to me in a weird bit of serendipity ... and you know how I love Sara.

Remember the post about Junior's ditch stuckage due to deer? I would not have Harley if not for that event.
It went like this ...

1. Jr drives into ditch.
2. I pull him out and he drives to school.
3. But, his tire goes flat.
4. In the afternoon, I take the tire off and go to Walmart.
5. They fix the tire.
6. That evening I head back to school to change the tire so Junior can drive home after basketball practice.
7. FFA is having their annual Fall Festival that night on the other side of campus.
8. I arrive at school and begin changing the tire in the dark.
9. As I am crouched down working the jack, I hear angry voices.
10. I listen.
11. A fight is about to happen and they don't know I am there due to my position.
12. I curse to myself, shouldn't even be here, off duty ....arrrghhh.
13. I stand up and walk toward the fight.
14. Only it's a small mob scene and it breaks out as I approach.
15. I yell to them to stop.
16. They don't, and it's like MMA with vicious blows being thrown.
17. I pull out the cell phone and announce to everyone that I am calling 911 and will see that they are arrested.
18. "Friends" start trying to separate the fighters.
19. 911 answers and I tell them what's going on.
20. The deputy arrives immediately as she was already at the fair.
21. I give her the lowdown, she deals with the fighters.
22. I go back to finish changing my tire.
23. A girl named Harley and her boyfriend walk over to talk.
24. Harley says she won this goldfish and doesn't know what to do with it.
25. Harley the fish comes home with me.

Simple really.

What Fort Was That In Yesterday's Post?

I always get nostalgic when I go home for the holidays and hit the beaches I grew up on. Beach sand brings back so many memories of surf fishing for whiting, camping with my grandparents, surfing, learning to drive in Dad's old Scout, girlfriends, beached whales, beached ships, storms, and countless summer days ... (which gives my perky dermatologist some measure of job security).

It was nostalgia that pulled me back into the Fort Matanzas National Monument on Black Friday. Besides a youth spent on the surrounding beaches, I had lived inside the park as a Ranger back in the 80's.

As usual , the NPS is still doing a good job of allowing visitors, while still protecting the resource.

A few commenters asked about the identity of the fort in my new banner pic.
This is Fort Matanzas.
It's really just a fortified watchtower.
There is an inlet here that allows you access to the inland waterway ... and a route to St. Augustine. Previous to this fort, the Spanish settlers at St. Augustine used wooden watch towers to guard this back entrance to town. The idea was, you spot sails from the tower, then you slip into a small boat and slip upriver (14 miles) to warn the garrison at St. Augustine.

The problem with those wooden towers is simply that they were easily taken by British pirates like Drake, Searles, and Morgan. The Spanish got tired of having their town burned and looted by the terrorists of the day and finally funded this strong tower in the mid 1700's.



The boat ride over to the fort is a big attraction at Matanzas, but there is also a nice mix of forest, nature trails, oceanside beach, and inland waterway beach.
Having lived there for a few years, I can attest to the fact that is a VERY fishy area with lots of good bites to be had.

Flounder like to lay out at the tip of these rock groins on a moving tide.

I walked out onto the dock, looked up and got a lump in my throat. I worked with John Harley when I lived there as a Ranger. He was a good man and an excellent coquina stone mason. He's gone now.
Nice that the NPS honored him with this small tribute.



I lived upstairs, over the visitor center when I Rangered here. The new Ranger told me that is now their offices.
Offices?
Maybe so, but it will always be one of my many homes and one of the more special ones ... my daughter Emma got her Earthly start just above that archway.

heehee

FC's Black Friday Shopping Adventure

I knew when I turned into the crowded parking lot, that this was going to be one of THOSE Black Friday shopping adventures.



I followed the signs to the bargains.

I got a great deal on a beach snowman.

This earlier shopper had already snagged the plush toys I wanted.

Oh well, early bird gets the Lab and all that ...

Herds of shoppers were everywhere, but most were well behaved with none of that "sales stampede" mentality that you hear so much about.

People seemed to have the spirit of the season, with lots of waving and smiles.

It just wasn't that bad an experience ... I don't see what all the Black Friday angst is about.

Cypress Circumference

Let's take a walk.

I didn't have time to upload this short video when I posted about the ancient Goethe Giant cypress tree last week.

In the video, I set my spiffy new USF Bulls cap on the ground as a starting reference and then walked around the base of the Giant.

I thought that might help you grasp the enormity of this tree.

Today is cold and grey, with a rumor of frost tonight ... I'll believe that when I see it.

I will be tucking the datil peppers in though just in case. They are still holding peppers and even a few blossoms.

My gator photo'n plans have been replaced by a trip to the JEEP shop for a squeaky belt that needs checking, but that decision is mostly due to the grey, dim light conditions out there.

Have a great Wednesday and a most delightful Thanksgiving tomorrow.

Sticking It Out

See that stump?
Not the stick, the stump.
Yes, that one.
Friday of last week, there was a beautiful egret perched on that stump as I drove past in the JEEP.
I stopped, and backed slowly up to the window in the willows through which I had spotted him.
He flew away.


See that stick?
Not the stump, the stick.
Yes, that one.
A few days later, I was creeping past in the JEEP and a kingfisher was perched on that stick.
I was ready for him and stopped the JEEP in line with the willowy window.
He flew away.



Lucky for me, gators do not fly.

Rainy Ride

Bear and I headed south on US19 in a steady rain, which just got steadier, ... much steadier, the farther we travelled.

I had decided to cruise down to Yankeetown (yes, snowavians, there is such a place ... we tried to keep the infection contained long ago, but some escaped)

heehee



By the time I hit Inglis, roads were ponding and the rain showed no sign of letting up. I took a right on "Follow Your Dreams Avenue", and pointed the JEEP towardsthe Gulf of Florida.



The rain and a grey mist softened the fact that here, Florida crumbles into the sea.

Exceptionally tall, lanky cabbage palms were left wondering where the light went.

Bear barely fitting in the front seat. The rain was pounding on the canvas top, like a tent in the rain.

We did most of our photography from unzipped JEEP windows as the rain was relentless.

Poor Yankeetown, this was the weekend they picked for their seafood festival.

Tarp covered display tables and booths lined the road, while dejected festival folks floundered in frustration.

Bear looking out over the Cross Florida (not!) Barge Canal.

Eventually, Bear and I left Yankeetown and crossed the barge canal. There is a trail that follows the canal to the Gulf that we wanted to check out. There is major bridge construction going on at the bridge over the canal, but you can still wind your way through the heavy equipment to drive the trail.

We ran around in the rain a little here at a covered picnic area on the canal and then took shelter beneath it's welcome roof.

That building is a composting restroom.

It was welcome too.

The Eternal Question ... Answered For You On A Rainy Sunday Morning

The question ... Does A Bear @#%$ In The Woods?

As a teenager, on various jobs, I must have heard that question a thousand times ... right after I had asked some other, apparently stupid question.

Curiously, the asker of the Bear question never answered his own question, but rather, simply stared at me with a expectant look on his face.

I suppose the asker did not know the answer either. Apparently, the question bothered them so much, that they would ask it out of the blue after I had asked some work related question.

Odd.

Anyway, I now have photographic evidence that answers that question with no room for doubt.

The answer is Yes, they do.

Bear and I were on a woods walk/run yesterday when he stumbled upon this farkleberry bush with excellent cane carving potential. My life schedule this year hasn't allowed much time for wood carving, (remember the atlatl post? yup, still unfinished) but I can't help eyeballing deliciously shaped pieces of wood while walking my forest.

This one has a great handle and the upper part that is mostly out of sight is nice and straight. I may come back with the pruning saw after it goes dormant and take that piece.
The nice thing about farkleberry is, when you cut it, it just suckers like crazy and those suckers tend to be pretty straight shoots.
It's a very sustainable harvest which suits me just fine, since farkleberry also produces lots of berries for the migrant birds you snow birds send to me each year.

Since any walk with Bear is usually a combo run/walk event, I did some jogging and somewhere on this expedition, my cell phone bounced out of my shorts and into the jungle.
I searched for a long time, but did not find it ... didn't notice the loss until it was almost dark.
And of course, I keep it on a silent vibrate setting so it's doing a great job of hiding.
It's out there somewhere in the rain.

Also out there in the rain is the neighbor's cat. As I mentioned yesterday, I had a chicken go missing and the cat was one of the suspects.
Last night, I put a piece of bacon greasey papertowel in my Havahart trap near the chicken roost and surprise! A marauding cat is in the trap this morning.

I think I will let it stew in the drizzle a while longer ... clean cats are happy cats right? Then Bear and I will put the fear of GOD (read that in a mirror) in it when we release it and shooo it home.

Today, it 's dark, rainy, and dreary out side and I think after I post this, I'm heading out to see what's moving in the dampness.
I may just take Bear in the JEEP with me ... who knows what other questions he will answer for us?



Oh yeah, Bear answered this related question also.

Hot Chick Taking A Bath

Okay, that post title should boost my hits today ...heehee

My banties love their sand baths. This is one of a pair of roosters that hang out together. Both of them were taking advantage of a sunny day recently.
My banties have self-divided into a two tribes which do not mix. Laya and two roosters form ... well, formed one tribe. This rooster and another form the second tribe.

I said "formed" up above, because it seems Laya's tribe is down to two. What took the missing rooster could be anything from the neighbors trespassing cat, a raccoon, an opossum, or maybe, just maybe, a barred owl.

The owl is really suspect this time since the disappearance of the rooster coincides with a predawn sound event that included chicken distress and the weirdest of owl sounds ... not the usual "who cooks for you" call.

I wondered at the time if the owl had struck a chicken off the tree perches they use at night, and as I said the absence of the rooster was noticed shortly after that.

I suppose if a barred owl can take a spotted owl, then a roosting chicken would be owlet's play.

(If you've never seen a chicken in the dark, they are absolutely clueless and helpless)

For now, this one is still strutting around and enjoying the simple pleasures of a sand bath in the Pure Florida sun.



See for yourself.

Unruly Ungulates Unroaderize Underling

Just as I got busy in my classroom, a little before 8:00am, the phone rang ...

"HEY DAD, UM, I'M STUCK IN THE MUCK A LITTLE PAST OTTER CREEK. ... A DEER RAN OUT IN FRONT OF ME AND I SLID INTO THE DITCH. I'M OKAY AND I THINK THE CAR IS OKAY, BUT I'M STUCK."

I let my teacher pal next door know I needed her to take my kids for a while and off I went.

Lucky for Junior, I keep rope and other useful thingies in the JEEP for just such an occasion. When I arrived, it was clear that we had been pretty lucky.

The car was mired in soft mud, with no tree or power pole nearby to inflict damage.

It was pointing the opposite direction he had been traveling.

Also, the skid marks on the pavement showed he had spun around at least twice, ... he said it felt like three, before sliding sidewayish into the ditch.

Sheesh.

The relief you feel when they are okay after this sort of thing is a welcome feeling and the extra relief of no serious car damage is like icing on the cake.

I'm sure the deer are quite relieved also since he missed them ... are you listening Katie?

I was dressed down for Friday, and there was no need for both of us to get dirty, so I got down on my knees and did the necessary rigging to pull him out with the JEEP.

The JEEP tugged him out of the mud with hardly a grunt and soon he was on his way.

I headed home to change my muddy clothes ... much to the delight of Bear who operates on DogTime, which means he thought I was home for the evening.

Of course, I had only been gone for an hour and a half, but in Dog Think, I left for work, I came back ... it must be long walk/dinner time.

He was a little confused when I turned around and left.

Before I could get to work, Junior called me with the new that the rear tire had gone flat as he pulled into school.

Oh goody.

How did your Friday go?

The Goethe Giant Strikes Again

I've taken you here before, but it was quite a while ago.
Last weekend, I slipped out with no destination in mind and landed in Goethe State Forest. I had not intended on going back to the Goethe Giant, but a forest road sign, "Woodpecker Road", called to me and I turned off the pavement and into the woods.

The scenery along Woodpecker Road was open piney woods, well managed for red cockaded woodpeckers and the like, but I wasn't in a piney mood, so I kept going. Truthfully, I was craving water ... a swamp, a pond, a marsh, but the forest was pretty dry.

Then suddenly Woodpecker intersected Cow Creek Road and I knew I should go to the Giant. It was a beautiful day, the sun was still high, and for once there would be enough light to shoot the Giant well.

Plus, the hordes of mosquitoes would by AWOL at this time of year.


The state forest folks have made access to the tree easier with a basic boardwalk over the sometimes flooded swamp near the big tree. The first time I was here was with my buddy Cindy. We had brought a bunch of 7th graders out on a field trip and there was no sign, no boardwalk, and no real path to the tree. The forest service guy just took us out into the swamp and then suddenly out of nowhere ... a giant appeared.

The mixed palm and hardwood hammock forest is a nice change from the surrounding hordes of pine and palmetto. This would be a hydric hammock due to the fact it's more wetter than drier, y'all.

Mesic hammocks are hardwood forests with sorta normal, medium moisture and xeric hammocks are ... yup, you guessed it dry hammock habitats. This may help you on a crossword puzzle by Will Short someday.

The Giant was hiding behind a sweetgum, but this was about as effective as Bear hiding behind Captain, the schnauzer dude.

Needless to say, I spotted him right away ... you can grow, but you can not hide.




Like most old cypress in the southeast, the Giant has been "topped" by lightning during nine centuries of growth. In the lightning capital of the world, our cypress elders never reach their height potential, but they do grow round.


Here's a closeup of the wound left by a massive branch that may have broken off centuries ago. Busy wasps were flying in and out of it.

Below, about 40 seconds of looking around the tree's immediate vicinity ... mostly peace and bird noise until the airplanes intruded.

I'm starting to really, really dislike all the gas guzzling, noise intruding flying machines.

I can't count the number of times I've shot a little video only to have airplane noise in the background ... even when I am in the middle of nowhere.

The sad thing is, we get so accustomed to the intrusion that sometimes I don't notice it until I watch the video.

THAT bugs me even more.

Wordless Wednesday: FERNDANGO

Rocking Around The Glock

Almost everything needed for a fun morning at our range.
Not shown:

• Eye protection
• Ear protection ... we double up with foam inserts and muff style.
  

Emma in action. She has just fired. The ejected casing appears in the upper left corner of the target.

We had an impromptu family gathering this weekend, complete with BBQ animals. We had expected the very immediate FC crew to be home for Junior's last football game, but my brother surprised my folks by scooping them up and driving them over from St. Augustine.

The menu? Ribs, chicken, mac and cheese, Selmo salad, squash casserole (blechhh), and a new recipe chocolate pie that was pretty amazing.

That was Saturday and we all had a great time. Emma wanted to shoot though and there just wasn't time to squeeze it in on Saturday, so she and I did some shooting Sunday morning.


We are both pretty handy with the pistol ... (Uncle Sam gave me a piece of paper that says I am an expert).

However ... we both had been on a long hiatus and were expecting to be rusty... and we were a little.
Mostly the routine and muscle memory of good technique training earlier pulled us through, but we both of us had areas to work on.
She really impressed me with her accuracy and form since it had been over a year since we had done any shooting.

Emma and I have competed in Glock's very fun competitions that happen around the country. Unfortunately, the first one I ever took her to was the Jacksonville meet with way too many people and long waiting lines. She was barely a teenager then and I think it was boring for her.

So, I never got her back to another one, and after awhile I had so many conflicts with the competition dates that I quit going too.

Maybe we can make one together in 2010.



All of our shooting Sunday took place at about 20 feet from the target. We took it nice and slow, just focusing on technique and accuracy.

Some work to do on the usual errors that rusty shooters make ... smooth trigger pull, site picture, and the dreaded anticipatory flinch ... but those are easily corrected by shooting more often ... woohoo!




Check out that smile when she finishes!

The two dropped shots are not from this round of fire ... and yes, I did those.

Dang it.

Football Finality Finally

Last night was the final Friday night lights night for Junior, aka #3.
Since he started playing high school football, I have looked forward to this moment in time with a mix of emotions.
On one hand, I love that he loves it and I truly love watching him play.
On the other hand, I've dreaded that he might get hurt, ... the kind of hurt that follows ex-football players the rest of their life.
So I held my breath a little during that final game last night. He had made it this far, would the knee injury (... or worse) happen in this last game ?



It didn't.
In fact we played an amazing game and controlled the field all night. Junior caught difficult passes, made touchdowns, kicked field goals, and tackled in a display of multitasking awesomeness ... as if to say, "Hey, watch me go out with a bang!"

He made 7 out of 8 field goal attempts.

I think he missed this pass, but ... does he look cool,or what?

That Eagle spirit was watching over him I guess, because he didn't even seem sore after the game was over.

He doesn't always get chances to tackle due to his receiver role, but he played almost the entire game last night and wore many hats ... er, helmets.


It was not just the final season game, but also Senior Night. Senior student/athletes from football, band, and soccer were all honored at half time.

I don't think you could have asked for a more perfect Senior Night. The air was crisp, we won the game, and the seniors, not just Junior, had tons of playing time and made some amazing plays.

Without a doubt, the most amazing play of the night was made by Junior's lifelong friend, Kelby. Kelby is the quarterback and in one particular play, after the ball was snapped, it appeared he was getting sacked.

The announcer even began to pronounce the play as a loss, "AND IT LOOKS LIKE A LOSS OF YARDS FOR THE EAGLES ... NO, WAIT! HE'S BROKEN THAT TACKLE AND ..."

You probably had to be there, but picture the quarterback falling back as the opposing players close in, surely this is a sack, ...they grab him, he breaks free, zigzags ... you think well okay, maybe we will get a few yards out of this, ... and then he emerges from a crowd of opponents and flies about 60 yards down field for a touchdown.

Wowsers.

It was pretty.

Kelby is the handsome dark haired guy in the picture below.

These two have been best buds since they met in kindergarten. It is that rare friendship that lasts for a lifetime and will benefit them both as they go forward. They have both grown into two fine young men who are the complete package ... brains, muscle, honor.

Last night will also stick with them for a lifetime, one of those shining moments, they will recall and rehash, over and over again ... and so they should.

It was just a little magical out there last night.

So, Football ends.

Basketball practice begins at 10:00 am this morning.

Asterisky Post

First glance ...

Closer ...

Up close and a little asterisky.