Saturday, October 24, 2009

Welaka Walkn' Sandhills


By the time Emma and I made it to the Welaka Fish Hatchery last week, we were almost as happy to see the restrooms as the fish in the tanks.
As we piled out of the JEEP and headed for the banio, a pair of sandhill cranes strolled around the corner.
They stopped.
We stopped.
As much as I was looking forward to that clean, public option restroom, I had to zip back to the JEEP and grab the camera.

I figured these cranes were pretty accustomed to people, so I walked slowly towards them until they finally took notice of my proximity.
The cranes began to move away slowly and I was able to capture a few megapixies of them share with you.



Emma was sorta hohum about these since she has to literally walk around sidewalk standing sandhills on the University of South Florida campus at times. How cool is that?

It's been a busy week here in Pure Florida ... as you can tell by a missed daily post or two.

My soccer girls are improving. We made the dreaded cuts last week, keeping 19 when we were supposed to be keeping 16 ... out of 27 tryouts.

I have a super co-coach who not only is showing me the ropes of coaching soccer, but is an amazing fundraiser in the local, tiny, poor community.

It looks like we will have real uniforms and not Sharpie Marker scrawled numbers on a T-shirt like our poor track team had last year. Our first match is November 6 against a hoitytoity private school, and vandals have damaged one of our goal frames, so we are feeling the time/money stress, but we will make it.

My brainy High Q team won both matches last week ... actually left the other team in smoking ruins, so that was a feather in their bonnet.

(They don't really wear bonnets ... they're nerds, but they have some sense of fashion)

Last night's football game was pretty depressing for a while and did not end well for us, but at the end we could hold our heads up.

At the end of the first half, we were down 0 -47 and could not seem to do anything right. In the second half, we came back hard, but not enough to win.

Final score was 24-47, and Junior made two of those touchdowns including a 60+ yard pass into the goal.

If only we had fired it up a little earlier!

Junior has two more football games left and then he will switch to basketball.

Last week he was in Indianapolis at the National FFA convention. He flew home Thursday night. This morning he is taking the ACT for the 3rd time, trying to get one more point higher on his score so he can be eligible for a full scholarship.

What a schedule that kid has.

Emma came home for the weekend to visit and work on a big paper. She entered a pumpkin carving contest at her apartment and won 4 tickets to HallowScream at Bush Gardens. She was pretty stoked about that.

When she wakes up this morning, I am driving her back to Tampa. Perhaps I will find a little something ... some park, or out of the way spot to bring back a story for you.

Right now, Bear is whining that I should take him out. It's raining lightly and I am delaying, but he says the rain doesn't bother him.

I'd better go get wet ... before the floor does.

9 comments:

threecollie said...

Love the cranes...all gawky grace!

Suwannee Refugee said...

Take your yak down to Cockroach bay. Great little bay that opens up with a view of the Sunshine Skyway. I see folks with yaks in these shallow waters all the time.

Sandcastle Momma said...

Those cranes are so interesting to watch. We never see them up here - don't know if it's too cold or if the carpetbaggers paved over their habitats.
Congrats to Emma on winning those tickets. My neighbor went last year and said it was REALLY fun.

robin andrea said...

I love seeing those Sandhill Cranes. Such a beautiful sight.

Congrats on your science team win, and I hope the soccer teams does as well.

Best of luck to Jr on his ACT.

SophieMae said...

Kids! I don't think I'll ever be ho-hum about sandhills. What's your other progenista up to?

You've stirred some pretty nice memories for me today. 'Specially biking from USF to Busch Gardens. We checked out a tandem and a few singles and had the best day ever. That was, of course, pre-Dismal. I doubt scholarshipmates could afford the admission now.

Miz S said...

I'm rooting for Junior and that one lousy point.

Deb said...

Great crane pix! Today I drove by the field where I saw the cranes a week ago, but I think they have moved on.

The first half football score sounds like one of Calvin's team's full game scores. They have a lot of small sixth graders on the team. But our high school team is conference champs!

Aunty Belle said...

wow--lots happenin' over heah!

Love the new header wif' handsome fellas in a Jeep!

Kudos to soccer girls, an' they coaches. Hooray fer Jr. whose schedule would make grown men weep. I know he'll do swell on the ACT.

Emmais pumpkin? Din't she follow Daddy's footsteps? Whar's a picture of her pumpkin??

The Sandhills are fun...so, well, so FLORIDA.

Sounds like wheels are turnin' jes' fine at PFHQ.

R.Powers said...

Three Collie,
Gawky grace indeed. Perfect description.

SuwRef,
That sounds like a good trip.

SCMomma,
I would expect them in outer area pastures and fresh marshes.


Robin,
Thanks for the good wishes. I know he's sweating that point.

Sophie,
My Katie is plugging along with college, work, etc. Doing great tho!

Miz S,
Thanks... he's a trooper.

Aunty,
You got that right, he had a heck of a schedule last week and now he's sleepin' in resting up for his beloved Dolphins game tonight.
I have a pic now of Em's punkin and will post it.