165: Dancing on the bar

It was (and still is) a gorgeous day here in south Florida.  Gorgeous!  The wind has finally blown itself out, the ocean was amazingly calm this morning, and shortly after sunrise the clouds on the horizon had disappeared and the sky has been nothing but clear and blue.  It’s hard to believe that, for calendar purposes, it’s winter.

Today's sunrise (2)

The difference in colors in the sunrise shots is due to a change in the white balance setting.  I took the first photo on the “open shade” setting and the second in “tungsten.”

I promised you some flowers today.  Once again, I don’t know what most of them are so we’ll have to enjoy them without their labels.  If I was good at that sort of thing, I’d make up my own names for them.

It’s day 165 of my commitment to get outdoors every day for a year.  That leaves me only 200 more days to go.  To be honest, I find it hard to believe I’ve made it this far, especially through the winter months.  Summer will likely bring the next challenge as I am not a fan of hot and humid weather except for this brief visit with it during the winter when we fly away to Florida.

My outdoor time here is so much different from at home.  And yet, in some ways, it is very much the same.  The differences include the weather (of course), the sand, the ocean, the air (salty, humid), and the people.  The similarities include water, seeing something new every time I go out even though I’m walking pretty much the same paths, and the walking itself.

The gathering

The biggest difference of all right now is the amount of time I spend in the water.  We were finally able to spend some quality time in Mother Ocean today.  The water was wonderful.  I’m not sure what the water temp is but it’s certainly as warm as (if not warmer) than the ocean temps at the Jersey shore in August (which is where I spent a few weeks every summer when I was a child, and M and I have occasionally vacationed there in late summer once or twice in the last decade or so).

We went swimming this morning during high tide, staying out for an hour or so.  And then again this afternoon (for a long while) at low tide.  The cool thing, during both tides, are the sand bars.  I had to do a little dance while I was (way) out there just so I could say I danced on the bar.

I’ve also been in the pool once or twice and had some quality hot tub time twice today, too.  I’m turning into a water baby.  Or a fish.

The beach was the most crowded I’ve seen it this year or last year.  Today was perfect.  You couldn’t ask for a better day and if you did, you’d either be greedy or impossible to satisfy.

When we walked over to the square for lunch today we saw a flock of wild parrots.  Or parrot-like birds.  The only other time I’ve seen wild parrots was in San Francisco.  I don’t think I managed to get any good shots of them (or they would be on the blog), but do have this post regarding the movie, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.

Well, the sun will be setting soon.  That means it’s time for M and I to find some dinner.  Since we had a big lunch, we’ll probably pick up some salads tonight and eat them here, on the balcony.  It’s a great evening for sitting outside and listening to the ocean.

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