Flying Tween, Flopping Lotus

Not sure what kind of bird this is, but a great close up

I will start out with some photos by Amy Philbrick, and they came at a good time, since I took what appears to be my last shot with the Nikon, yesterday. There is a shutter fault and it feels like one of the components has broken inside the lens. Amy:s dad, Frank, is my wife:s grandfather and he was gracious enough to send me a zip of some of her nature photography. 

It looks like the tree he:s on has been pruned a time or two. It add a lot of character.

I don:t know where these mallards are going but I love this for the 3 different wing positions.

Beautiful the way the light comes through the feathers of this hawk.

These sort of pictures can take a great deal of patience at times, and I can't count the number times I have wanted to walk a little closer before taking a picture or making cast, but did and scared the moment away. 

Drew at Stavros

Well at least phones come equipped with cameras now, and here is a shot of my date with Drew. She loves Stavros Greek pizza, and so we had a little one on one time with some pie and root beer. I felt like going fishing later, hard to believe, and Lily asked to go with me. I was excited because normally they don:t like Crane:s Roost because of my number one rule of fishing. *We don:t leave till we catch a bass.* I often hope this will teach them patience, or how to entertain themselves, but mostly she wanted to go with me, and I kind of missed the boat on that. I got a bit overly focused on bass and ended up dragging a little girl and her ultralight all over the lake. I taught her how to drop shot but then left her to her own means once I started trying to find bass. She just wanted to relax, talk and catch some gills. Sometimes I can be a bit of a dolt, and so she started climbing the rock wall there, to entertain herself. I heard the sound of graphite rubbing against rock behind me and I told her three times to move or she would brake the rod. She paid me no mind and then jumped down against the rod. *Did you brake it?*
* I don:t know….yes.. *and then tears. 
*Why didn:t you listen to me?*
* Because, I was:t paying attention. *
I was mad of course, but she was genuinely upset, and this is the rod she uses to fish with her friends. So I took a cast and pondered for a while. I:ve broken a dozen rods in my day, and not all of them while playing the old man and the sea. 
*It:s just a rod, Lily. We should be better stewards of our stuff, but I should have been a better companion tonight too.* 

Fishing suppression; it:s wrong

This is Lotus Lake Park, and these signs drive me crazy. They are very confining. You can walk past the signs to other points and find fish that you are not allowed to catch. I caught a small bass and a sunny in the creek, but my daughters pointed out some no fishing signs over there. 

Lily:s fungus pic

More fungus for Lily

Looking out across Lotus lake

We noted some large Blue gill in the lake, so I decided to make up my previous failure with Lily and bring her here. She decided not to go, and then Drew piped up that she would like some fried Blue gill, so I took her instead, and she is usually the one to back out. They get more and more confusing every year. 

a bug in the eye

A bug flew in Drew:s eyes as we hopped aboard the tram to the park. A lovely, hot winter:s day here in Florida. Tomorrow is the full moon and I think the water has stayed so warm that the big girls will move in to spawn. Just in case you were wondering.

Chubby little Lake Lotus gator

The heat brought out one of the healthy natives. He just lay there, basking in the sun on the creek bank. Beautiful little guy.

Drew blue

I looked at my bass rod before I left the house this time, but as I watched Drew pull out Blue gill, I knew I made the right decision leaving it at home. The three little boys, who had gone 4 hours without a bite, all gathered around the little blonde girl to see what she was using. *Just bread and worms, but I rig my hook like a drop shot  to control the height.*
*Oh, right, like that,* they reply.

Almost sad to eat this one, but Drew loves her fried gills

You know, as I think about it, it really was just a rod. A few weeks ago I saw a boy who went after a skateboard, that was just a skate board, but the string of images that followed have haunted me for weeks now. I don:t want my girls to be careless with things, because we work hard to buy them the things they need, and you should always respect other people:s stuff. There is just no material thing that can be possessed in a way equal to the value of your life. I hope my girls know I love them more than anything, and I am trying to grow up faster than them to stay ahead of the curve.