Bird Sightings

Hello, here is a partial list of the bird species I positively identified in Florida using the Peterson Field Guide for Eastern Birds and local State Park aids.

Wood thrush:



Chipping sparrow:



Red shouldered hawk:



Osprey:



Black scoter:



Common gallinule:



Broad shouldered hawk:



Black vulture:



Pine warbler:



Red cockaded woodpecker:



Northern mockingbird:



White eyed vireo:



Carolina wren:



Rufus sided towhee:



Brown pelican:



Little blue heron:



Great blue heron:



Great white egret:



White pelican:



Sandhill crane:



Gray catbird:

2014 March for Life

Each year I participate in the National March for Life on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.  The 17th annual event, organized by Campaign Life Coalition took place May 8 this year under sunny skies.

My impressions were

1) I thought the overall crowd was a little larger this year, perhaps due to the weather.  Apart from the two women who stripped their tops off and rushed the speakers podium yelling "liar" when Cardinal Thomas Collins was speaking, it was a quieter affair than last year.

2) There was very little singing and chanting by the young people that I experienced and enjoyed in other years.  A group of Filipinos were singing hymns and we joined in with them.  There were many families with kids, particularly moms with strollers.  I enjoyed the Pro-Life Mass at St. Theresa's given by Bishop Mulhall of Pembroke.

3) There seemed to be more clergy and fewer politicians than last year but I could be mistaken.  I guess there were no Liberals there after Justin Trudeau's rant that pro-lifers are not welcome in the Liberal party and will be screened out.  There were 8 or more archbishops and bishops and 2 cardinals.  I met several Anglican lay people there and saw at least one group of muslims walking with a sign.

4) All in all it was a good feeling.  Everyone felt that they had made their point.  Both CJOH and CBOT showed excerpts during their 6 pm news with the caption "is anyone listening?"  My congrats to the organizers and appreciation to the sponsors and all the pro-lifers who turned out.  Thanks too to the KofC 3rd and 4th degree groups in Arnprior and Renfrew for sponsoring the free bus.

Here are a few pics.

Off the Grid

When you are camping, at least in our case, you are off the grid a lot.  We relied on wifi (weefee as we call it) service at McDonald's.  Occasionally some SPs would have weefee but it was hit and miss.  Some days there was no phone, weefee nor TV of any kind.  It was great.

Being off the grid, there is a lot of time freed up to reflect.  I would stare at the campfire for hours, listen and watch the birds all around or Marie and I would discuss things and go for long walks on the beach and trails.  Knowing we could connect at McDonald's the next day to check in with family and friends was reassuring.  (At McDonald's usually you do not have to get out of your vehicle to connect, their signal is so strong.)

Here are some Inner Journey lessons I (re)learned as a result of this trip (I have to get them down before they vanish...):

1. Hot sauce is not for me any more.  I gave it up for Lent as an experiment and my life is much calmer now.  It was a long walk some nights to the bath house when I was 'using'.

2. Wine is not for me much any more.  Wine is much cheaper in the U.S. - 3 litres of very drinkable merlot for $9.97 at Walmart.  I drank a lot of wine on this trip.  The last night at Henderson SP in Destin I over did it.  In Mass the next day I was quite quesy and wondered why I was 'punishing' myself so to speak.  I decided then and there that I was sick of wine - I don't want anymore.  Since then I have had a glass or two but that was to be sociable. I am wine free.

3. I like (chatting with) people.  God, it's great to be in America where everyone not only says hi but will strike up a conversation with you.  Where are you from, how long you been down here, I've been to Canada, Do you know..,the weather, the weather, the weather...But also more substantive conversations about the warmth of family relations, appreciation of beauty and nature, to find the best in others, to give of one's self and leave the world better.

4. I like religion.  In the U.S., religion is in general more visible. There are so many large churches everywhere, parking lot's are full on Sunday and there are billboards exhorting people to go to church and honour life.  We rarely missed a Sunday mass and went a few times in the week and always came away with renewed reverence for God and Faith in Jesus.  The televised EWTN mass at 08h00 every day was a habit when we were in the condo.

5. Our marriage is a blessing.  We survived the close proximity of camping together in the RV without killing each other as Marie says.  It was trying at times ( I take up a lot of space.) We compromised of course and I had to learn to be more patient.  The occasional blow up was inevitable but we each have short memories and we would say sorry and move on.  I felt really blessed to have such a great partner.  Marie was galley girl and I was BBQ boy.  The closeness and increased patience has carried over so far.

6. We like travelling.  It's a pilgrim lifestyle that is hard but appealing.  Always pushing on, not sure where the road will take us but alert to new possibilities and God's greatness get's us through, day after day.  Curiosity drives me to want to see everywhere, touch the ground and smell the smell's of places all over the map.

7. The Sunday NY Times is a great read.  Suffering now from Sunday NY Times withdrawal.

Best,

Florida Inner Journey by the Numbers

Just back from another fabulous Florida trip in the trekker.  Here are the stats:

- 93 days
- 9407 km
- 15 States
- 3 countries
- 16 State or county parks
- 17 beaches
- 10 churches
- visited 4 sets of friends
- chatted with 150 people
- quite a few warm sunny days
- quite a few cooler and rainy days
- best place Destin: shopping, beaches, seafood, sightseeing, walking
- 2nd for me Turtle Beach, Sarasota County: rustic, great sea shells, conch blowing at sunset
- 2nd for Marie: Fort Myers: condo, yoga classes, shopping, warmer weather
- 3rd best place: tie Lake Louisa SP and Silver Springs SP: inland, lake, orange orchards, glass bottom boat rides, birds
- best visit tie: Fr Jack Lau, Oblates Novitiate, banks of the Mississippi, Godfrey Illinois; Betty and Glenn Clarke, Indian Shores Beach; penthouse condo near Clearwater
- surprise activity: 5 day Carnival cruise out of Tampa to Grand Cayman and Cozumel: really liked it
- visited Stones River National Battlefield Park in Murfreesboro, TN
- visited EWTN studios in Irondale, AL
- visited Paducah, KY (where the Tennessee R joins the Ohio not far from the Cumberland and Mississippi R junctures)
- visited Our Lady of the Snows National Shrine, Belleville, IL from where we could see the St Louis Arch
- on the way down went took I 81 to I 77 near Roanoke, VA, then to I 95 and FL
- on the way back took I 65 to Nashville and I 24 and 64 to IL, then I 70, I 69, I 75 and I 94 to Port Huron

It was a most amazing trip.  Only problem with the Trekker we experienced was a seized caliper in Destin which we had fixed in 3 hrs.

To come: lessons learned and some more pics.

Catching Up Exchanging Stories and Jokes.

Since my last post we have been to Fort Desoto Park (5 nights), Largo (1 night), Indian Shores (2 nights with the Clarkes), Garnd Cayman and Cozumel (5 nights Carnaval cruise) and now in Zephyrhills for 2 nights.  It 's all good, good, good.

We did a lastminute cruise and found Carnival to beof great value.  Ofcourse, foodand serenityare not up to Oceania's premium level, but we weren't disappointed.

Americans are  thefriendliest,chatiestpeople.  Havingmetdozens of people now, we are truly at ease strikingly up a converrsation withanyonewemeetor see.  It's great another friendly manner hascaughtus up.  We meragreatcouplefrom Utah, A couple of Mormonswith 4 kids at home.  Theywerenotmuch olderthan our own kids.  We had a blast atthedinner table exchangingstoreis and jokes.

Sorry Bout the spelling.  Willcorrect when Igeroutif thesun!

Best

Turtle Beach

So we are camping on Turtle Beach and the weather has turned great.  It's 80+ every day so far and no rain.  But last night the weirdest thing happened.  We had a dew storm.  A heavy fog rolled in and condensed on the tall pine tree above our RV and it started to rain dew.  It rained hard dew most of the night.  I did step out from under the tree and it was not raining.  Weird, a dew storm.

So where is Turtle Beach?  It is on Casey Key just south of Sarasota.  It's a Sarasota County campground right on the beach.  The Gulf of Mexico is 200 footsteps from where we are parked.  This is the best kept secret place to camp in Florida so shhh, don't tell others.

To day we went to Siesta Beach on Siesta Key, a 8 km drive north.  Voted the best beach in America a few years ago - yes the No. 1 beach in the US.  Acres of white sand, endless beach front, soft warm waves and a mile long sand bar to stroll on.  OK, you get the picture.  But I forgot to mention the thousands of beach bods strolling and lazing in the sun.  Free parking, washrooms, concessions, picnic tables, volleyball nets, beach exercise classes - all absolutely free.

Every night we catch the sunset.  There is a man who blows a conch shell like a trumpet at sundown on the beach.  There is another man playing a recorder and a woman playing the guitar and singing softly. Too much.

This the way to live, especially on FEBRUARY!