Bird of the Day - Egret on the Beach

Egret, probable juvenile

Chris and I have been taking many, many, many (read over three hundred) pictures of birds while on vacation.

So we have decided to publish a few of the better ones--OK, we are getting one better one per 300 images taken. Thank goodness for digital imagery!

-- Bob Doan, writing from Jupiter, FL

The Lone Ranger - A Review

I had the opportunity to view The Lone Ranger the other day.

Despite the poor attendance and dismal reviews, I liked this movie. It was far deeper and more complex than I imagined it would be. The interaction between Johnny Depp (the Ranger) and Armie Hammer (Tonto) was complex, funny and serious.

The story is set in the late 1800's but told as a narrative by Tonto to a young boy named Will during a fair in San Francisco during the 1930's. This narrative setting worked well and Johnny Depp's portrayal of Tonto is fantastic. The story is about how the Lone Ranger came to be "Lone" and I admit that I never knew the back story behind the larger than life hero portrayed by Clayton Moore for so many years on television. The relationship between The Lone Ranger and Tonto was an portrayed in the movie uneasy one which developed over time. I had expected a campy, corny, fun movie and saw instead movie about genocide, treachery, murder, and human trafficking to in the pursuit of greed and fortune. There are many very difficult scenes to watch in the movie which, in retrospect, I am not sure really needed to be part of the plot or story line.

The movie is a serious endeavor with humor often juxtaposed to help the audience overcome the depth of the tragedy just witnessed. The plot if deep with many twists and turns. The acting is very good, although there are no Oscar worthy performances. The villains are villainous, and the heroes are larger than life. I especially enjoyed the antics of the white horse--which eventually was named Silver in keeping with the history of the story. At one point Tonto utters that there is something not quite right about that horse. It is fun to watch the horse. It was also fun to watch the interplay between Depp and Hammer--they reminded me of the the interaction between Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr in Sherlock Holmes. I admit though, for the closing scenes hearing the familiar Lone Ranger Theme (William Tell Overture) was a blast from the past and provided the spectacular movie ending that I had come in search of--but it remained a serious ending to a difficult movie because of its tough and often graphic reality.

I read a fair and even review of the movie that carefully lays out the positives and negatives of the film in   The Nerdist. I found it to be very accurate and I generally agree with it.

RECOMMENDATION: I liked the movie. The movie is not suitable for the pre-teen group due to its graphic nature and difficult subject matter which includes inferences of prostitution based in a western setting in addition to a particularly disturbing murder scene. One reviewer suggested that it was the most generous PG-13 rating in a long time. I agree! Based upon the violence and the subject matter an R rating might be more applicable.

-- Bob Doan, writing from Jupiter, FL

Leatherback Turtles: Saving Hatchlings

Leatherback Turtle Hatchling on Jupiter Island Beach

Another rainy day is in store and Chris and I headed off to the beach earlier than normal to try to grab some beach time before the afternoon rains become oppressive.

I attempted snorkeling in the too rough waters, only to realize after about 15 minutes that my attempts to see or do anything meaningful were futile. So I wandered the beach, which we had all to ourselves, looking for shells and taking pictures, until the battery on the camera expired, of birds and critters.

Second Leatherback Hatchling of the Day

We relaxed on the beach for a few hours before another couple appeared on the beach. They appeared intently interested in something on the beach and we considered the possibility of a turtle nest eruption, whereby a couple of dozen turtle hatchlings make the mad dash for the ocean and begin swimming for the deep water to begin their lives, providing they do not become a snack for some predator.

As we wandered over, it was apparent that something was indeed happening. Chris was in the lead and upon arriving at their location she began emphatically motioning for me to hurry.

Arriving at the scene, it was not an eruption underway, but rather one lone straggler that had become entangled in fishing line on the beach and unable to make its way to the surf with its nest mates. AND, it was a leatherback. The first leatherback that either Chris or I had seen in the wild. For a hatchling, it was big compared to the green turtles and loggerhead turtles that we had watched make their way into the ocean on other occasions.

Leatherback Turtles are the fourth largest modern reptiles. And interesting fact that I didn't know until I did some research for this article. I know that they are rare in the wild and I have never seen an adult leatherback. Their food of choice is jellyfish--which helps to keep the jellyfish population under control.

This hatchling needed help. Chris knew what to do. I proposed carrying it into the surf to let it get on its way. That turned out to be a bad idea as we learned later its probability of survival was near zero. The better idea was to take it to the Loggerhead Marine Wildlife Center--a few miles down the road. And so converting a dive mask container into a turtle transport device we headed off. The staff at the Center was elated to receive the leatherback hatchling.

Chris was rewarded with a nice certificate for her efforts and we learned that we should not transport the hatchlings in sand covered with water, but rather, just damp sand.  That was important because we decided to return to the beach and scour the debris to see if any other leatherback hatchlings were similarly entangled.

As it turns out, upon returning to the beach and scouring the other debris we indeed found another ensnared hatchling which appeared to have given up hope of making it to the sea. We scoured the area thoroughly and were reasonably convinced that no other hatchlings remained on the beach. I counted 20 sets of tracks that ended at the waters edge--and with these two, the nest produced about 22 turtles. I am not sure how many of the other 20 will survive, but I know these two have a great chance of making it because they both arrived at the rescue center where they will be boated out to the deep water and will skip the feeding frenzy off the beach that the other 20 had to endure to make it to the relative safety of the deeper water.

Chris is a hero--at least for these two turtles, well, and of course to me.

-- Bob Doan, writing from Jupiter, FL

Faces of the Sea

Rough Seas and Blue Skies

Stuck in the house due to the torrential rains that blew in from the Bahamas, I was thinking about the many faces of the ocean that I have seen during the roughly week and a half that I have been in Florida.

Calm Seas and Dark Skies

Chris and I spent parts of both Monday and Tuesday mornings chasing the sun, visiting multiple beaches per day as the storms descended. We were actually chased off one due to the crash of thunder occurring within moments of the flash of light from the lightening. Ugh! I mean, we get wet on a beach so a little bit of rain isn't a problem. Torrential rain, however, is a different story. And throw in lightening within less than a second's worth of distance (roughly 1,126 feet) and that is too close. When that happens it is time to race off the beach and into the car.

Wild Seas under Gray Skies

The different seas we have experienced this week are dramatic. From rough to wild to smooth.

Wow. As for snorkeling--only twice. Ugh!

Rough seas, water with too much junk in them, thunder storms, chasing the sun to find a beach. What a couple of weeks it has been.

It should only get better.

I hope. I have a lot more snorkeling to do.

Let the sun shine.

--Bob Doan, writing from Jupiter, FL

Out to the Sea

Morning Sky heading out to the Ocean

Fishing the ocean in a small boat on a rough day with storms not only on the horizon, but nearly on top of the intrepid fishermen may seem crazy--but, it was a great way to spend the better part of the day.

Leaving before dawn from a park near Stuart, Florida, to be on the water as the sun arose provided a fantastic start to the day. Dawn is one of my favorite times of the day, and I was not disappointed even though the clouds were heavy with rain.

Turtle Tracks along an Abandoned Boat

It was a beautiful morning though, trolling along the coast for tarpon or other big fish. Sadly, we didn't see any. But, it was enjoyable trolling along the long sandy beach seeing the turtle tracks from the egg laying during the night before. It is reassuring to see so many turtles crawling up the beach to continue their species.

My First Snook

But, there were fish to be had. Deciding that the big tarpon were not in the area despite an abundance of potential breakfast food (read bait fish) we headed to another area to fish for snook--which although out of season to keep are a lot of fun to catch and release. We caught a few of these fairly significant fish and it was nice to see them up close and personal. I did smell like fish for the rest of the day, though. I'm not sure what I was thinking about to have such a serious look on my face--I really didn't want to hurt the fish anymore than hooking it had already done.

Francis and the Snook

Francis also landed two snook during our expedition--here he is holding the second one of the day--we kinda dropped the first one back into the water before I could snap the picture which was good for the fish, but not so good for posterity.

Bill, the owner and captain of the boat can be seen in the background of both pictures. He clearly knew not only where to go for fish but when to be there for the best opportunity of success. I learned a lot about fishing and fish and while I had a lot of nibbles on my bait--I didn't land too many more.

It was a great morning of fishing despite foreboding weather which never materialized.

-- Bob Doan, writing from Jupiter, FL

Monday Musings - July 15, 2013

1. If I stayed on vacation forever then it wouldn't be a vacation, right? It might be considered retired though!

2. Onto the ocean in a small boat chasing big fish--it is right up there with some of the best ways to spend a day. Catching a big fish and then releasing it is also right up there on the list!

3. How to spend a day when it is raining is one of the great questions I have been wrestling with lately. What a good problem to have.

4. I enjoyed celebrating Bastille Day yesterday. It is, after all, my second favorite foreign holiday. Everyone then asks me what my favorite foreign holiday is, and it is Cinco deMayo of course! Check out the linked Wikipedia article on Bastille Day. There reportedly is a celebration in Baltimore that I have, for some strange reason, never attended.

5. It is amazing how quickly important issues fall from the consciousness of the populace--take the Federal government sequester for instance. A lot of people are suffering simply because our elected representatives cannot do their jobs. The same thing happened over student loan rates when they could not act to precent a rate doubling.

6. It is the MLB All Star Break. The Orioles are hanging tough playing 10 games over .500 and only 1.5 games out of the wild card with the division clearly in their sights for the second almost half of the season. Home Run Derby tonight--will Chris Davis become the fourth Orioles player (Ripken, Anderson, Tejada) to win? Actually, I hope not, it could hurt him during the second part of the season.

7. Regarding the Zimmerman acquittal verdict--the jury has spoken. It appears that we are forgetting that in this country people are innocent until proven guilty of crimes and that the standard of proof is set high to preclude innocent people from being wrongly convicted and imprisoned. Despite all of the issues surrounding the cased which tried to cloud the issues, the jury still rendered its verdict and the system still works despite what any of us would believe otherwise.

8. With two weeks remaining on vacation, I am amazed at how much time has already passed. I was asked, what has been the highlight of the vacation? After thinking for a minute of all of the great things I have done, I think the highlight is getting up every day, assessing the weather and asking--so what do I want to do today with no preconditions or plans already made.

-- Bob Doan, writing from Jupiter, FL

Flying into the Clouds

The flight of pelicans seemed on a journey into the clouds the other day as Chris snapped this image. Almost as if they were flying into the Twilight Zone.

I love the way the pelicans patrol the beach, keeping all in order.

They soar together--seeking food and companionship.

They also provide something to watch and marvel at on beach days.

-- Bob Doan, writing from Jupiter, FL

Finding the Rainbow during the Storm

Double Rainbow

Although I could have considered the evening to be a washout as the storms arrived, it was not. During dinner, as the rain fell, I noticed that sun was shining. I decided to look up at the sky and was rewarded with a beautiful rainbow and then--as double rainbow. I had to do a lot of processing to make the second rainbow visible in the photo I took--but it is there.

Jupiter Lighthouse, July 12, 2013

Every day brings its share of challenges and rewards. Sometimes, like the mythical pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, we just have to search for the up side.

Consider the June automobile accident that I was involved in which resulted in the loss of one vehicle. It was definitely not a good experience but there were a few upsides: no one was injured and after a lot of work the vehicle was replaced something new which will last for many more years.

Similarly, rainstorms can cause destruction and damage--but they also bring the rains which nourish and refresh the land.

Often, during the storms, there are some spectacular sights--like the gathering storm clouds surrounding the iconic Jupiter Lighthouse.

I just need to look to see.

-- Bob Doan, writing from Jupiter, FL

Sometimes the Storms Come

Palm Tree against the Gathering Storm in Stuart, FL

I love Florida for the heat and the sunshine. It is in the storms, though, that I realize how much I really do love the sunshine. Yesterday as we were shopping in the quaint downtown district of Stuart the day went from bright and sunny to dark and stormy.

We had enjoyed a good snorkeling morning on the beach in Jupiter with sun and pleasant skies and decided to spend the afternoon re-exploring a town we had visited a few years ago during a previous trip.

During our excursion, the day changed from bright and sunny to dark and stormy. At least the storms provided some really cool images. I especially love palm trees against a dark stormy sky background.

Walking over to the inter coastal waterway, I was able to see the storm in more completeness. It looked ferocious and foreboding.

I tried to get some images of the lightening associated with the storm, but it seemed to be flashing in the places that I wasn't looking. It was an impressive storm gathering across the waterway.

It was a complete turn around from the idyllic morning on the beach, but I found beauty in the storm.

-- Bob Doan, writing from Jupiter, FL

Two Times Per Day

Jupiter Beach morning July 10, 2013

Beach time is precious when on vacation, especially when the weather is threatening--like this weekends threat of a tropical storm. Yesterday was a twice on the beach day--morning and evening.

The day began with thick clouds hanging over the area--but no significant rain. A decision was made that "by golly we are on vacation to spend time on the beach and we are not going to let a few ominous clouds keep us from our goal. "

I Think Crabs on the Beach are Funny!

It was a great morning and early afternoon--even with the heavy clouds. The winds were light and the water warm resulting in a great beach experience. The clouds were constantly changing and provided an impressive display above the gray water crashing onto the beach. The surf was a bit rough--but fun to watch and enjoy.

Pelican in the Evening Sun

As Happy Hour arrived, the decision was made to head back to the beach. The clouds had broken and the skies were fairer. The decision was rewarded by calmer surf and that allowed for the first snorkeling excursion of the vacation. Although the waters were still cloudy, I enjoyed gliding over the rocks and spying many different fishes during a relatively short, thirty-minute swim.

Back on the beach, life was abounding from small land crabs to birds and of course Happy Hour. How can I not love being on the beach as the day draws to an end?

I dunno.

-- Bob Doan, writing from Jupiter, FL