NATURE
My sister and brother-in-law, an avid birder and an apprentice birder (self-named), visited us this week and the focus was on birds. It’s the off season for good sightings, but my sister kept a list of birds seen in Florida anyway. I think she got to forty before they departed. Lots of shore birds as we had breakfast at the beach cafe, walked the beach, strolled the loop at Leffis Key, and then made a before-dinner excursion to the tip of Longboat Key. For this last, we were on a quest to see a roseate spoonbill. I have actually seen these delectable-looking pink birds twice now, but she had not.
Unbeknownst to me, my spouse had packed a cooler with champagne glasses and a bottle of rose’ champagne to toast the sighting of said spoonbill. No luck, lots of terns and gulls, but no spoonbills. We returned home for drinks on the porch, the rose’ now having been poured, and, with binoculars in hand, spotted the usual egrets and, noteworthy for me, a wood stork, a bird I’d never seen before. Then, lo and behold, my sister spied a bit of pink fluff in the water and we had our roseate spoonbill! We kidded my husband about arranging it, but it was sheer happenstance.
Earlier in the week, we made the trek down to Myakka River State Park where we walked the nature trail and across their short, but high canopy walk. The suspended walkway is 25 feet above ground and at the end you climb to 75 feet for an expansive view of field and trees. It was clear and for us earth-bound creatures a rare view.
Closer to home, we explored the small, but lovely, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, right in downtown Sarasota. Their specialty is epiphytes and the conservatory had many, many examples of these dependent plants including lovely orchids along with some bromeliads (pineapple, for example).
Outside, there’s a children’s rainforest area, a canopy walk, and a meandering path down to Sarasota Bay along which we studied the white ibis pictured here. We had the added good fortune of being able to view their annual juried photography show, “Found in Florida,” which we all loved.
READING
Having just completed David McCullough’s new biography, The Wright Brothers, I am more closely observing birds in flight, something Wilbur spent many hours engaged in as he and Orville designed their early airplanes. Hard working, quite modest, and very determined, with a smart sister who both encouraged and sustained them, the Wright Brothers persevered in isolation to get it right. They were not showmen like some of the more daring French aviators, but rather avoided the limelight as long as possible. Neither brother ever married and their sister, Kate, only did so late in life. They all lived together in Dayton, Ohio, with their father, a traveling preacher.
McCullough’s writing is solid and matter of fact, making for a straightforward account of the brothers’ journey from being bicycle builders to inventors of successful flying machines. I’m certain I will be more appreciative (perhaps “awestruck” is a better word choice) at the marvels of air travel the next time I fly.
[Note: All photos are the author’s work unless otherwise indicated.]
