last night's light and more from yesterday
I really like this picture of me taken last night by earthmother45 with her infrared camera. It reminds me of a Dali painting.
Yesterday we got another early start and headed down to Sarasota to the Mote Marine Museum. Saw many interesting things - lots of different sharks, all kinds of corals and sea creatures, more manatees, river otters, 3 different kinds of crocodilians (an alligator, caiman, and a crocodile), sea turtles, got to touch sting rays, and saw Rossy get into a hurricane simulator. I took very few pictures while there and none that I will bother showing.
Came home from that and took a little rest before we drove over and picked up Kathy. She guided us to a boat basin where manatees are frequently seen. As soon as we got out of the car Rossy pointed out that there was a rainbow - a good sign.
Rainbow sighted.
Waiting at the boat basin for a manatee to appear. There were lots of anoles on the fence to amuse Jules and the boys.
A manatee appeared in the middle of the basin.
This is the closest I could zoom in on its nose. A woman with a camera appeared and said she sees them there every day. The best time is in the morning. She once saw a pair mating but she turned away and didn't want to watch it. Didn't want to see that kind of stuff. We all thought, what?! That would be so interesting!
We wanted to see the co-op art gallery where Kathy has her photos and art. This is her wall. I always enjoy seeing how things change here - new artists and new things that the regular artists are doing.
Posing for a photo in front of the mural outside the gallery. The sign says Island Gallery.
Arriving at the beach. This is the picture I was probably taking when Kathy took the infrared photo of me above. That is Jules and the boys conferring in the middle distance. There were no waves and the boys were disappointed, not sure they wanted to bother going in.
Sunset colors already starting.
Still conferring but they are closer to the water now.
Seagulls.
Jules watching the boys. They did decide to go in and they had fun anyway even without waves. I was very tired after the long day and just wanted to find a place to sit and relax. Kathy and I found a place to sit on one of those cement outcroppings.
Birds lined up to await sundown too.
The sky looked like it had a glory hole in it (the kind of glory hole kiln they use in glass making. I just looked up the word glory hole to make sure I got it right and found out there are lots of other urban meanings - hmm...)
A stack of gulls.
The gulls and other birds fly to the north at this time of the evening. There were flocks and flocks of them going past - thousands going to roost for the night.
A family group arrived next to us just at sunset and had a little while to enjoy the water before it got too dark. I liked seeing and hearing them - grandfather and grandmother, parents and kids all speaking Spanish. That is Jules' silhouette on the right and Kathy's shoulder on the left. It was such a wonderful place to sit together and enjoy the ending of a day. I loved it. Maybe one of my favorite moments of the vacation.