Weather Alert

Aloma and I both received a weather alert a couple of days ago.  It wasn’t for tornados,
thunderstorms or hail. It was for falling iguanas. Iguanas are cold-blooded and when the
temperature gets low (under 50), they get lethargic and when the temperature drops
below 40, they become comatose, can’t move and often fall out of trees.  TV news
warned residents not to pick them up or take them inside because when the
temperature warms up, they become active again.

TV news the next day had videos of iguanas lying still on lawns and on roads.  We
didn’t see any in Naples. TV news reported the only people happy about the falling
iguanas were butchers who sell the meat.

A story not related to the iguanas--I rolled out a grill from the garage in our condo in
Naples, cooked some burgers and then went inside to eat.  After eating, I went back
out to put the grill away. A snake, about 3 ½ feet long, followed me into the garage. I
tried to herd it out by getting in its way and stomping my feet.  Instead of retreating,
the snake reared up and struck at me. I got a shovel and convinced him to leave
the garage. If we were in North Carolina, I would say it was a Copperhead. I’ve
read that they are rare south of Orlando, so I don’t know what it was.

After we moved into our condo we were warned that a panther had been spotted
coming out of some deep woods near the next building.  The HOA president said it
probably wouldn’t attack a person, but you shouldn’t walk your dog in that area. The
sighting was verified by another person the next day.

South Florida sure has some interesting wildlife.

Seasoned Man

stevelem117@gmail.com

E-14 R.I.P.

While I was recovering from my accident in Naples, Florida two years ago, I learned
about a website that streamed a video 24/7 of a nest of two Bald Eagles within a few
miles of the hospital in Fort Myers.  Mom and Dad eagles had hatched two eggs
and for 24 days in the hospital and in a rehab facility, I watched the babies eat, grow,
fledge and finally leave home,

Last year, I started watching again in December and watched two eggs hatch and
continued watching the eaglets until they left the nest area in April.  I would check in
with them at least a couple of times a day.

This year, I watched in fascination as cracks appeared in one egg, and a cute little
eagle emerged, so tiny, barely able to hold his head up.  Mom and Dad brought tons
of food and fed him every hour or so. But the second egg never hatched. This year,
they only had one baby to take care of.  It was named E-14 and thrived, consuming
enormous quantities of food, growing rapidly.

Yesterday evening, a report on the eagle blog said that blood was seen on the
baby's foot, on his left-wing, and on his left side.  The blog didn’t make it sound that serious.

This morning I checked in and Mom was standing next to E-14, looking down at it.  The
images are so clear that normally I see the baby breathing. Not this morning.  Mom
pecked at its foot and the baby didn’t move. Dad came and stood next to her, looking
down at their baby.

An announcement a few minutes later confirmed that baby E-14 had passed.

I am so sad.  Goodbye, little eagle.

Seasoned Man

stevelem117@gmail.com

Fast Forward

On vacation, we’re staying in a condo, the same size as our home, layout about the
same, comfortable bed, comfortable furniture.  The kitchen is more than
adequate--important to me because I do most of the cooking when we are on vacation.

But there is a downside.  We watch a fair amount of television.  We mostly watch
separately. I watch a lot of sports, movies and science/history programs.  Aloma
has her special programs. While we watch different programs, we do have
something in common.  Ninety percent of the programs we watch have been
recorded. We are both masters at fast-forwarding through commercials, always
stopping at just the right time.  I can start a recorded football game thirty minutes
after it has started and watch it and a two-hour movie and finish both as the football
game ends.

Our vacation condo doesn’t have a DVR.  Everything we watch is live with
commercials that take forever.  Aloma mutes the TV during commercials.
My strategy is to have a book or writing pad so I’ll have something to do during
commercials.  Another issue is we have to watch the shows that are broadcast
live. I’m okay after lunch when I watch CNBC or Fox Business. But in the evening,
nothing is ever scheduled that I want to watch.  After all, watching the Weather
Channel for four hours is kinda boring.

We have a Netflix account but we discovered the wi-fi here doesn’t support it.

I read this blog to Aloma before I posted it. She said, “Stop whining and go
watch the Weather Channel.”

Seasoned Man

stevelem117@gmail.com