homosassa – Page 40

There is a direct correlation between how active I’m in the community and the quantity and quality of my blog posts. Seems every day there’s a meeting, a volunteer session, or I need to update one of the community websites. So I apologize for the lack of posts. I’m still here, just out and about.

Terry is even more involved than me. I’m not up for physical labor–he’s out there moving concrete patio tables and marking lines on the road. Me, I’ll stick with my computer work!

So what exactly is going on this month???

Black Diamond is having an Invitational Car Show tomorrow. We’ll be there in the AM.

In the PM we’ll be at the Blues & BBQ in Old Homosassa. The last two years have been cold or rainy at this outdoor event. This year we are having unseasonably warm weather. I’ll go for shorts and tanks over sweat pants and gloves anyday!

The Stone Crab Jam is in Crystal River Saturday evening. We hear that this is the best festival of the year in Crystal River.

Next weekend is the Homosassa Arts, Crafts, and Seafood Festival. At the Festival we have “Shades of Gray” entertaining us from 11:30 to 1:30 then Cat Valentine from 2:00 to 5:00 on Saturday. On Sunday Rick Standard will perform from noon until 2 and then “Under the Willow” takes over. All of our crafts and arts booths are FULL. We have mermaid t-shirts and posters for sale. And all that yummy food. Don’t even think about going anywhere else! Unless, of course, it’s over to the Shed where my favorite band “Sarasota Slim” is performing both days.

When you come to the Festival stop by the Old Homosassa Heritage Council booth and get a t-shirt and a raffle ticket. Money goes to restore the water tower.

Also, the Learning Center is having a raffle for the original art work by Gil Watson for the t-shirts and posters. $5.00! I’m volunteering at the Learning Center now. So this one is personal to me, also. Hmmmm, now I’m thinking I should be suggesting that you NOT get those raffle tickets. Cause I want to win that painting.

And one final note, the next crime watch meeting in Old Homosassa is November 23rd. Mark your calendar! This is a really informative meeting. If you live in Old Homosassa, you should be there!

Have a great weekend!

Kathy

Or a better title….

Pipety Piper Pops in at the Park

And that is why we have an annual family pass to the state parks. Because whenever a small person stops by for a visit, they immediately ask to go to the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. (It even ranks higher than a boat ride!) Or as all of the grandkids call it, the ZOO! “Grandma, parks have swings. Zoos have animals.”

We could go to Weeki Wachee and see the mermaids, but the little ones always choose the local park. Which is great for me because it’s five minutes away.

We usually spend about an hour there and they are ready to go. That’s about how long my attention span is, too.

On this visit, Piper wanted to go all three days that she was here. And now she wants to be an alligator scientist. How cool is that?

Since I went three days last week, I was able to get a lot of really great pictures.

On day one we headed to the Fish Bowl first. Divers were in the water measuring the captive manatees.

Piper did her version of a flamingo.

The bears were both out and about.

What does the fox say? (Hey, I’m with a four-year-old!)

And an alligator

On day two, Piper did a quick study on the flamingos and realized that they tuck their head under their wing when they are relaxing.

Here’s day two’s version….

Not tucked here, but I like this snap!

Roseate Spoonbill with no fear.

And then we went to the Wildlife Encounter, which was an alligator on this visit.

A wee baby alligator.

And lots of dead alligator parts.

I thought Piper had zoned out during the presentation. Hey, she’s only four. But as we walked out she said “THAT WAS AWESOME!”

And now Piper has her career mapped out–she wants to be an alligator scientist. We went to visit the alligators in the reptile house and then back to the alligator pen where they keep the big ones and then back to the reptile house. And she repeated just about everything the Wildlife Encounter volunteer talked about.

Then we saw a wild manatee when we walked over the bridge.

And Piper needed to get her picture taken.

Day three was just a quick dash through.

We got there just in time for the Wildlife Encounter. This time we got to meet a Great Horned Owl.

And I thought the talk was fascinating. Piper was much less impressed. She will not be an owl scientist.

Here’s one of the Red Wolves. They usually hang out in the back of the enclosure so I thought this was a good pic.

We did visit the alligators and the reptile house a few times. (But not the owls!)

Piper also perfected her flamingo stance.

Piper learned to stay away from the back side of Lu when he’s on the land. I told her you couldn’t ever get that stink out. She liked to repeat that phrase for the rest of her visit. (The things Grandma’s teach their grandkids.)