Just so you know....

[Shady]

The gulf is warm, the oysters are salty-sweet, the scallops are plentiful, the grouper and snapper are running perfectly, and I am in heaven.

We had a great fireworks show. I hope everyone else I know had a wonderful fourth!

[Tonus]

They've had fireworks shows around here over the last three days. Most of them at the beach, which we can see from the balcony. Last night they had the one near here, which is literally a few hundred yards from us (which means it is really really bright and LOUD).

We're in a rare stretch of almost perfect weather after about two weeks of rain. Something like five straight days of 79-81 degree weather. It will start raining again Monday, if the forecasts are accurate.

[S Carver Orne]

I can't wait to move to Florida (if that does indeed happen). We'll be right near the gulf. I may never leave the beach.

[Shady]

We went to the beach the first time today. I am not particularly a beach person, but I love to go out on the boat, scallop, snorkel, and basically do everything you can do without an oxygen tank.

All without spending a day with sand in your underwear.

[Grunthos]

Underwear at the beach? Ur doin eet rong!

[Shady]

Underwear at the beach? Ur doin eet rong!

Apparently, I'm doing a few things wrong this time around....details later.

[Edmaster]

The fireworks were scaring the dogs pretty badly. They ran inside and hit upstairs all night. Cowards.

But the noise probably hurts their ears, I imagine.

[Little Bug]

This town is weird. They are having the fireworks extravaganza on Saturday (July 11th).

Mah kitty went into hiding on the 2nd and didn't come out until the 5th except for food and potty since he was born, until this year when he hung close to the hubby.

And Shady...I'm slightly jealous of you right now. I would love to be near water!

[Shady]

Well, it rained Monday, which is when we had planned to take the boat out. Then it rained for two more days after that. And I don't mean just plain old rain, but thunderstorms with the possibility of dangerous lightning and strong winds causing and undesired amount of choppiness on the water.

Wednesday we decided to go down to Indian Pass and do some crabbing. I couldn't believe the birds that were around that day. Black Skimmers were running in pairs within feet of us, pelicans were flying about and landing nearby in the water waiting for some bait to be tossed their way, and a giant crane landed on the beach right next to us. I think I got some good photos but I'll have to wait until I get home to post them. Something is wrong with the Elements on this laptop and I still haven't figured out what.

But yesterday morning the wind laid down some and the skies cleared a bit, so we got a green light to take the boat. No sooner than we dropped anchor on the back side of Black's Island the wind started kicking up and there were white caps as far as I could see. The water was still pretty dingy from the previous days so scallops were difficult to see. We upped anchor and moved over to the leeward side of the peninsula to be in more protected waters. We found some cool stuff like star fish, sand dollars, live tulip shells and a handful of scallops. We piddled around a bit until one of the mainland storms' anvil was covering the entire bay, lined with mammatus clouds. Without being able to tell which way that storm was heading, we decided to come in.

Yesterday was a nice day, but I sure wish we had access to a boat today. Not a cloud in the sky and the water is slick as glass. S'ok though. We're going to head over to Wakulla Springs (I've never been there) and maybe stop at a couple of the lighthouses on the way. Should be a nice day for it. We might even get a chance to finally set off our fireworks tonight!

EDIT: OH! I totally forgot to mention all the Osprey around. Like, everywhere! I don't know if young osprey have their white facial marks yet, because I've seen a lot of solid brown raptors and I think they may be juvenile bald eagles. The weather has not been good enough for me to get out and investigate. I'm hoping I get a chance today though.

[Tonus]

Do you have your own boat, or do you rent one when you are there?

[S Carver Orne]

Sounds like you're having a great time, Ms. Shady! I'll freely admit how completely jealous I am.

[Shady]

Do you have your own boat, or do you rent one when you are there?

Short answer, it's easier and more economical to rent. My entire family has boats and I've learned from their mistakes. If/when we ever move down here we will buy one. Until then someone else can store, clean, maintain, buy accessories for and repair the boat I use. Note the bolded words.

We made it over to Wakulla Springs today. Very, very cool. We saw several alligators, white Ibis; great Blue, Small Blue, tricolor, snowy and great white heron. I spotted an osprey in a tree and further down we saw her juvenile in the nest wanting to hop out. An Anhinga was drying it's wings on a cypress knee above a manatee and a baby manatee.

Also, there were so many butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies, yet I couldn't grab a shot of any of them. They were all over!

Shots of the trip to follow later this week.


PS--I never got my juvie bald eagle shot. =(

[Edmaster]

I agree, Boeing's Osprey is really making a comeback this decade, and hopefully it's reputation as a failed VTOL craft can finally be put to rest. jkbutnotreally

[Shady]

I agree, Boeing's Osprey is really making a comeback this decade, and hopefully it's reputation as a failed VTOL craft can finally be put to rest. jkbutnotreally

Ohhh, those. They dive like a raptor.

We are talking about craft that are meant to be in the water.

[Edmaster]

Ohhh, those. They dive like a raptor.

My next door neighbor works on them here in Philly. The way he describes it, they sound awesome. I need to convince him to take me along one day for a tour.

[Shady]

That's the coolest thing I have ever heard. Like, evar.

[Edmaster]

Air is also a fluid, so nyeh.

:p

[Shady]

I didn't say fluid. I said "water."

so nyeh.

And, you're a big fat liar, so double nyeh.

[Agent Cay]

I spent my Fourth working at some pool for snooty upper-class people to lie around in while their children splashed in the water.

And I did it for ten hours.

Forget a good Fourth, I didn't even see a firework cracker, not even a sparkler.

Fuck this Fourth. Fuck it with a rusty nail.

[Shady]

Glad you had a good fourth.

But this thread is all about me.

[Edmaster]

In other news, I got my EpiPen today.

So no worries now about dying from a bee sting!

[Tonus]

Air is also a fluid, so nyeh.

:p
At about -238°F, yeah.

[Edmaster]

At about -238°F, yeah.

Also room temp (and pressure).

:mellow:

[Grunthos]

Also, Carbon Dioxide has no liquid phase at standard pressure.

[Edmaster]

Liquid =/= [all] fluids.

:mellow:

Gases are also fluids (at least above absolute zero).

[Grunthos]

Main Entry: liquid
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: fluid
Synonyms: aqua, aqueous material, broth, elixir, extract, flow, flux, goo, goop, juice, liquor, melted material, nectar, sap, secretion, slop, solution, swill
Notes: fluids include liquids and gases; a liquid is a fluid with a fixed volume, and a gas is a fluid that can expand indefinitely
liquid is a substance that flows and takes on the form of its container; a fluid - substance with no fixed shape and yields easily to external pressure - can be a liquid but it can also be a gas
Antonyms: solid


:p

[Shady]

I have some pictures. Some are ok, some are not that great. I haven't finished processing them all. Here are some.


1. Great Blue Heron, Port St. Joe bay.
http://shadyhugs.smugmug.com/photos/588770312_7mAUv-XL.jpg

2. Morning Thunderstorm over the bay.
http://shadyhugs.smugmug.com/photos/588813070_bV3qN-XL-1.jpg


We also made it over to Wakulla Springs on Friday. A few shots...

3. White Ibis.
http://shadyhugs.smugmug.com/photos/588821908_P9p6Z-XL-1.jpg

4.Green Heron.
http://shadyhugs.smugmug.com/photos/588842089_mPJaB-XL-1.jpg

5. Juvenile Osprey considering taking flight. He hasn't been out of the nest yet.
http://shadyhugs.smugmug.com/photos/588865042_9scXJ-XL-1.jpg

6. Alligator!
http://shadyhugs.smugmug.com/photos/588847140_kybcC-XL.jpg



There are more images uploaded at my smugmug (http://shadyhugs.smugmug.com/) under the galleries Port St. Joe and Wakulla Springs for those who are interested. As I said though, I haven't completed processing and uploading them.

[Demented]

those are some great pics.

[Grunthos]

Really nice work, Shady.

[S Carver Orne]

Extraordinary pictures. You must have one hell of a camera too. Mine is a crappy digital that looks like garbage. /jealous.

[Tonus]

Zoe has mommy's cheekbones!

And is that Jaylie? She looks so cute. :)

[Shady]

Extraordinary pictures. You must have one hell of a camera too. Mine is a crappy digital that looks like garbage. /jealous.

Actually, my camera is one of the bottom of the line consumer cameras from Canon. I'm not even sure they make it anymore. Thanks for the compliment though!

The picture of the thunderstorm was made with a super wide angle lens I rented for the week. I got some shots of the pier at the beach at sunset (a particular shot I've been wanting to try) but I wasn't very pleased with how the lens performed. I'm very glad I had a chance to try it though, since I had been wanting to buy that one for a while. Actually using it helped me to avoid an expensive mistake!

Zoe has mommy's cheekbones!

And is that Jaylie? She looks so cute. :)

I noticed that in that photo of Zoe too, lol. Yes, that's Jaylie. I have a neat shot of Samantha too I still need to process.

[Shady]

Just so you know, I'm back down here again. It rained all day which was fine with me because wirk, Zoe and I are staying at one of the actual beach houses and we have the whole house to ourselves until we go home Monday.

I've been spending my after dark hours on the front deck listening to the ocean (and the gazillion tree frogs around) and gazing at the Milky Way. It's absolutely amazing how many stars one can see here without all of the light pollution of the city. I've seen a couple of small shooting stars as well.

Also, this time of year the sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs and all beach properties have to turn off their porch lights between 9:00pm and 7:00 am. The turtles use the stars to navigate to the beach and porch/flood lights confuse them. not only is that cool because of the turtle eggs, but it makes for minimal light pollution which aids star gazing.

It's a beautiful evening. So far this trip has been much better than the one last week, and I've not even been here for 24 hours yet!

[Little Bug]

You are an amazing photographer!!! I like the picture of the turtle's at Wakulla Springs. Never seen so many lined up on a log together like that.

[Myxomatosis]

Pardon my bumping, but I just got back from the gulf yesterday and had a wonderful time. Was about 20 miles out of Destin at a place called Grayton Beach. Had a wonderful time myself, despite a tiny bit of nasty weather. Unlike Shady I didn't get a whole lot of photography done. Ran out of film on the first day and was too lazy to head out and get more. :<

[Tonus]

I think Shady uses a digital SLR. A digital camera with either extra memory cards or a laptop allows you to take pictures until either the camera or your clickin' finger give out.

[Shady]

I think Shady uses a digital SLR. A digital camera with either extra memory cards or a laptop allows you to take pictures until either the camera or your clickin' finger give out.

True Story.

On that note, please enjoy some time lapse photography that probably killed 50 or more digital cameras in the making. (DSLRs do have maximum shutter clicks!) Keep in mind, this is not filmed, it is timelapse photography very well done. Each little sequence probably took thousands of individual shutter clicks.

http://vimeo.com/3744985
(I can't embed HTML here, so click the link you lazy fuckers).

Oh, and just as an update photo...here's Oscar. My new Main Coon. Check out those hairy ears!

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p223/shadyhugs/Oscar.jpg



And here's the kitten that started the snowball at the beach...Jo

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p223/shadyhugs/Joe.jpg