Black Skimmer

The Black Skimmer: A particularly graceful and elegant waterbird; especially when compared to the....













Common gull, which will do anything and and pose anywhere for a bit of stale bread.

Face of God

“I’ve seen the face of God, the true face. It was in the swamp during a dry spell. I came to a pond with no water. Fish were flouncing about in the mud, dying. A huge cotton-mouth came over the bank and into the pond. His body was as big as my leg. I said to myself, ‘Now the snake will feast on the fish.’ He took a fish in his mouth, but he did not eat it. Instead, he carried it over the bank and to a nearby pond with water, and then he turned it loose. He came back and did this again and again. I had never seen such a thing before, and I knew this must be the face of God.”

Excerpt from Allapattah (Forever Island and Allapattah) by Patrick D. Smith.

Whoops..

It's started to storm here on S. Beach..













.. and I just let the cats out.



Update (7:37 a.m.) : Now it's lovely.. though really, I prefer the rain.


Oh, and 45G, in case you were wondering, the cats are A-OK;-)

Who would've guessed..

that the best part of going to the Irish Festival would be...
















...the falafel I brought home for dinner?











'scuse bite marks;-)

Lion Love...

These two guys reared this lion from a baby in England but the authorities would not allow them to keep it once it reached maturity so they were forced to give it up. They took it back to Africa and placed it in a wildlife sanctuary, a year later they went to see it and were told it would not remember them.
















They were wrong..




H/T 45Govt. More info here.

Unrepentant

Willow, doing what comes naturally... though it still makes me mad (especially when he decides to share).

Miami Nights..

Meet Will (right). He is the husband of Jamie, and owner of this sweet little yacht - America One - who gave us a grand evening on Biscayne Bay last night. (55ft little;-)


Thank you Will! It was lovely.










This is Jamie, Will's gorgeous wife. She is a long time colleague and friend and is leaving to open her own business.

If you're ever in the Miami area and need a wax, check her out: waxonwaxoff.com
















On our way....




















This is Ervin (left)
.. and a treat for the Tuscan;-)


















Course, I wasn't the only photographer there..


















I rather fancy this spot..



















So nice to leave work for this..














Didn't see any Manatees..













Thankfully;-)

















The best shot of the night..














and a few more, just because..








































































A truly lovely evening.. Thank you Jamie and Will!