Day Trippin

A day at the beach...well, a half day at the beach. We didn't decide to go until about 2:00 in the afternoon.

I like the beach when it isn't crowded. Apparently, this fine fellow feels the same way. As soon as I stopped to take his picture he decided he had other places to be...

...perhaps it was something I said?

Between the dunes a path had been cleared and sand was piled up on either side. Treebeard called this the "Sand Canyon"

Gotta have a little flower power in the dunes.

Just outside the restaurant where we ate dinner, an osprey was sitting on her nest. She seemed quite unconcerned by our attentions.

She even turned to let me get a shot of her good side.

Also visible from the restaurant, waaayyyy in the distance, was the Bodie Island Light. 12x zoom is fun, but grainy :)

Pretty Pests

Sure, they're annoying. No denying that. But they are pretty nonetheless.


One of our delightful assortment of horse flies...


and a Harlequin bug plotting its course through the vegetable garden.

Sun Salutes

A foot or so off the ground, a tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) waited patiently for the sun to creep a little higher. The morning was cool and this butterfly's flight muscles weren't quite warm enough to allow it to take off. I watched for a while as it flapped its wings and prepared itself for a day of nectaring and other important butterfly business. 

A Personal Favorite

I have several "favorite" trees. I love the bark of the sycamore, the presence of the American beech, the feel of trunk of the hornbeam, the stateliness of the longleaf pine. But the tree that makes me smile is the tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera). There is something about the shape of the leaf that makes me happy -- how weird is that? :) 

Renewal

No school tomorrow, so no studying today! I have spent the whole day outside. It has been glorious. Frogs, birds, lizards, snakes, turtles, alligators, butterflies, dragonflies, damselfies, bees, beetles, flowers, fungi, lichen, and more!! How I do love the swamp...

Oh, by the way, thanks for all the positive energy. I made it through the week and passed all my tests, the written ones and the practicals. I have this week off, then a week of class, and finally on May 5th -- the state exam. 

Stolen Moments

...from a short walk I took to clear my head and re-focus my eyes. Less than a month to go in my training program. Perhaps I will survive afterall ;)
But please send me any positive energy you have to spare...I don't want to take any chances.