Friday, April 10, 2015

Friday, April 10, 2015

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2008, at Mattie's sixth birthday party. Mattie had a bowling party that year and his entire kindergarten class was invited. What you may not be able to tell from this photo was that Mattie had a fever and wasn't feeling well toward the end of the party. By the time he got home that day, he headed to the couch and fell fast asleep! Which was UNHEARD of for Mattie.



Quote of the day: Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters. ~ Albert Einstein

We visited JetBlue Park today, which is considered Fenway of the South..... otherwise known as the "Nation's Southern Mecca." This is where the Boston Red Sox's train during the Spring! I did not look, but I bet there was a Dunkin Donuts somewhere in this baseball park! It seems to me those two things go hand in hand. 

JetBlue Park, the spring training ballpark for the Boston Red Sox opened Feb. 25, 2012. A number of the characteristics of the ballpark are taken from Fenway Park, including a "Green Monster" that features seating both on top of and behind the wall, as well as a manual scoreboard. JetBlue Park and the surrounding Complex capture elements that reflect its Southwest Florida location. Environmentally-sustainable features are incorporated throughout the facility and Complex, and the considerable landscaping features vegetation indigenous to the area. The facility opened in the spring of 2012 at a cost of $78 million which was paid for by tourist tax dollars collected from hotel stays. That will keep the Boston Red Sox in Lee County for the next 30 years.

While at the ballpark, we met "snowbirds" from Boston. They happily took a photo of Peter and I next to "Wally the Green Monster."

We visited the Six Mile Cypress Slough (pronounced “slew”) Preserve today. The Preserve is over 3,400 acres of wetland in Fort Myers, Florida, that measures approximately 11 miles long and 1/3 mile wide. This linear ecosystem is home to a diverse population of plants and animals, including a few considered to be endangered. The Preserve also serves as a corridor for wildlife by providing a safe route of travel.

Info on the Preserve -- What I found very interesting is that the Slough acts as a natural drainage way. Water flows through the Slough allowing sediments to settle out and pollutants to be absorbed by the plant life. This process cleans the water as it flows southwest through the Slough to deliver fresh water to the Bay. 

Throughout our entire visit to the Preserve, we walked on this lovely boardwalk for about two miles! The wonderful part about this is despite being hot out, the trees provided wonderful coverage and protection from the heat and sun. 

Along the boardwalk there were several viewing areas so we could see the water and many of the birds who fly through the area. 

To me this Preserve was the best kept secret in Fort Myers! The concierge desk at our Hotel had heard about this but did not know specifics on it! Given what I read about the Preserve on line, I felt we had to go today, on our last day in Florida. This was a MUST SEE. Especially if you are a bird lover. This Preserve did not disappoint, as our photos will show! 

We saw several Red bellied turtles.

During several parts of the boardwalk, we walked through a swamp and saw trees covered in epiphytes (an epiphyte is a plant that grows harmlessly upon another plant, and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, and sometimes from debris accumulating around it) and bromeliads.

White herons were all around us!

This photo I want to title, "you ought to be in pictures!" A very photogenic heron.

A Night Heron, there were many of them who loved perching in the swampy areas of the Preserve. 

Green Anole-- It is also sometimes referred to as the American chameleon due to its ability to change color from several brown hues to bright green (though it is not a chameleon).

Brown Anole -- notice this lizard has an orange pouch near its neck. This pouch is called a dewlap. The dewlap only gets inflated as a mating ritual or when threatened. He clearly did not like our presence around him to take a photograph.  

I could have done without this sighting, but someone walking ahead of us pointed it out! Coiled on a log was a Cottonmouth snake, a poisonous snake. Mattie would have enjoyed this thoroughly. 

I saw this fellow fly onto a tree and started pounding away on the wood. However, at first he wasn't cooperating with my camera. But I was patient until he moved. I was able to capture a wonderful Red bellied Woodpecker
photo. 

This Red Shoulder Hawk
was watching Peter moving around on the boardwalk! I captured the hawk watching Peter, who was watching the hawk!

This beautiful long winged bird is an Anhinga. A bird of southern swamps, the Anhinga is known as the Water-Turkey for its swimming habits and broad tail, and also as the Snake-Bird for its habit of swimming with just its long head and neck sticking out of the water.

What I also loved about this boardwalk besides its very peaceful nature, the incredible wildlife we saw on it, was its beautiful attention to detail. Along the boardwalk were meaningful quotes posted along the way for walkers to reflect upon. What a very specially designed experience and one like I have never had before on a nature walk. This Thoreau quote said, "You learn that if you sit down in the woods and wait something happens." That is indeed true. If we moved quickly through this experience today we would have seen NOTHING. We had to meander through this two mile walk to be open to nature at its own pace and NOT ours.