Monday, December 24, 2012

Mirrors


The sun did in fact come up yesterday, as you can see above. We have a lake behind our family house, and it served as the perfect sky-mirror.

Yesterday was pretty much just a day of settling in. I went for a walk with my mom. I helped her take down the spider webs that in Florida appear almost daily around the upper reaches of everyone's ceiling, hustling as many of the tiny spiders outside as possible. Spider liberation day!

We went to Publix, the biggest, cleanest, classiest grocery store on the entire planet. Their slogan used to be -- and maybe still is -- "where shopping is a pleasure." And it's really true. I'm not normally a fan of grocery shopping, but I think if I lived near a Publix I would go uncomplainingly every day. Mom picked up her pre-ordered fresh turkey and we got pie ingredients so Dave can make pies. (Dave is not happy without some kitchen duties.)


When we got home I walked up to the highway and came across these sandhill cranes, traveling in a pair as usual and mirroring each other almost as perfectly as the lake mirrored the sunrise. They're big, gawky, slow-moving birds that tend to stand hair-raisingly close to roadways, houses, you name it. They mate for life, and sometimes you just see one flying around by itself, looking sort of lonely.

These two looked happy enough, but they were standing a little too close to U.S. 41 for their own good. I saw them flying away a few minutes later, though, so they made it out OK.

The goal of my walk was an antiques and bric-a-brac store that recently opened near our neighborhood. I checked it out, and I wanted to buy something just to help the place out, but I didn't even find anything worth a charity purchase. Certainly nothing worth hauling back to London.


As I got home, Mom's cat watched me suspiciously from the roof. She has two cats, and they're sort of wild. They don't like any of the rest of us. I'm not sure they even like Mom.

Finally, last night, my brother and his family arrived and I wrapped presents. It took a ridiculously long time for as few gifts as I have to give. I'm not sure what I was doing wrong! Anyway, it's nice to have that finished now. I'm ready, Christmas. Sock it to me.

6 comments:

Lynne said...

Wow, that was a sunrise? Beautiful! How lucky to have a lake as a mirror.

The sandhill cranes are gorgeous! Did you have your new zoom on or did they let you get very close to them? I've only seen sandhills once--in the unlikely place as close to our cabin in Colorado. We had to look them up as we didn't know what they were!

Yes, bring on Christmas!

Ms. Moon said...

Ah- yes. You are definitely in Florida. Those cranes are magnificent!
And isn't Publix just the best?
Merry Christmas in Florida!

Sharon said...

Have a very happy and fun holiday!

ellen abbott said...

Yes I agree, the cranes are beautiful. The whooping cranes winter near here but I've never seen them.

Have a great time with your family and a Merry Christmas.

37paddington said...

That sunrise photo is astonishing! I love where you're going with your photography. These are all just captivating. And you're HOME.

Steve Reed said...

Lynne: I was using my zoom, but I was also standing fairly close -- maybe ten or fifteen feet away. By the way, I can't log in to your blog from here in Florida because I left my login ID at home, so that's why I'm not commenting at the moment. I'll catch up in January!

Sharon: Same to you!

Ellen: Sandhills are closely related to whooping cranes, apparently. I think they look very similar.

Angella: Yes, I am home! Woo hoo! :)