That's not flying, that's FALLING... with Skype*

*or with STYLE, depending on your ability to enunciate whilst your excited...

The Mangrove Forest

We have really interesting signs in Florida.  I was once at a resort where the parking ticket said something like "the resort is not liable for vehicle damage from falling coconuts."  Another time I told my brother in law we didn't worry about sharks at the beach, and he pointed over my shoulder to a sign that said "Warning! Sharks!".  Still, this one below has to be one of my all time favorites:

A good friend visited this past week- hurray!  We had a wonderful time (at least, we did!). She's really a kind of quiet-joy person... not all outwardly enthusiastic, but an authentic and realistic positive outlook.  She's also from the mid-atlantic area, so it's like seeing Florida with fresh eyes when she visits.  I tend to appreciate- even more- this very unique place we live.

It has interesting sights, no?  The photo above is a mangrove seed forming.  If you've ever been to the beach and wondered what those brown cigar like sticks were... well, now you know: mangrove seeds.  Interesting on the beach, in the water, or developing on the tree.

It's beautiful here in the mangrove forests.   I'm not sure I've heard that term used often, if at all, but I like it.  It was one of those odd days- cool in the shade, but really warm if you were in the sun or walking around.  

We stumbled across some scat, shown here above (at least we didn't stumble INTO it).  Anyone know what it is?  We had no idea- thinking maybe a bird, but it's pretty well formed.  With berries!  I was thinking deer, but it was up on a boardwalk.  Another local friend thought pig.  Anyone?  (Note, if you don't recognize it, I wouldn't recommend googling images of various animal scat to compare.  Ahem.)

It was a lovely visit, all in all.  We were only at the mangrove forest for about an hour or so.  We did hit the beach, of course.  That was a little chilly too, so we watched the moon rise and headed home.  Nothing better than friends and fun, nature and good health :)

Vacation, part 2 and Post Vacation Blues

That almost Disney, almost free trip worked so well a few weeks ago that we thought we'd try it again! It didn't work nearly the same, though.  Not worse, just... different.

 

First of all, our hotel was near SeaWorld, not Downtown Disney.  Tough times, I know.  However, the grounds were BEAUTIFUL.  I'm not usually blown away by landscaping and atmosphere and such, but wow.  We stumbled across an outdoor chess set- conveniently located near a playground, so everyone was happy!

I found Virgil's Cream Soda in the same hotel deli that sold Starbucks bottled frap for $4.  Nah, we didn't get either.  I did, however, immediately think of the cute pup my brother once had, and so snapped this pic to send to him.  But I entered the wrong number, so someone else must've been puzzling over the odd txt msg!

 Kaden took to the pool like a toddler to water.  In fact, this time around there was less adventuring and more swimming, running and - wait for it- cable TV.  Perhaps we still needed down time?

I know I did, because this time it was my turn to work- and the conference blew my mind away. The first part was ministry and technology, the second part was educational tech.  Holy gigabytes, Batman!  There was rock music and giveaways (computers! yes, plural!) and inspiring speeches and more iPads than I've ever seen in one place! 

 It was nice to come "home" afterwards and walk the beautiful grounds at night with the family.  We'd pass fire pits, and little fake streams and ponds, and Kaden would run his energy out while I tried to summarize things with Jim.

And now, this week, we are back to work and the laundry and all those other things that make everyday life run.  I really want to figure out how to make sense of and use all the info and inspiration from the conference (which deserves its own post), but I've inherited extra hours at work to deal with "tech stuff."  Which I proposed, thinking more along the lines of electronic communication and social media.  But our website was hacked and went down, and now I'm in the midst of learning how to design a temp one.  Yes, learning how.   I haven't felt this dumb since I tried to help a relative with Medicare.

But, then again, working a bit late means a fantastic commute home.  There's not a lot of traffic on the bridge, and I get to see some gorgeous sunsets.  These pics are from the last two days.  So perhaps I shan't compain too much...