The Jaguar

Yesterday was Mom's 84th birthday -- not that she was entirely aware of it. Apparently her fellow residents all sang "Happy Birthday" to her in the morning, and she got a special tram trip around the grounds of her retirement center. By the time my brother and I showed up in the late afternoon, she was sound asleep. One of the nurses woke her, which I felt bad about, but eventually she got a bit more animated and we had a good visit. We brought some cupcakes and some new slippers, and we took her in to dinner and sat with her while she ate. When I left she gave me a long hug, which is very unusual for my mom -- as I've said before, it's often hard to know what she's thinking, but I know what a long hug means.

My brother and I spent the earlier part of the day at Castaway Island on the Intracoastal Waterway. You may remember from previous visits that I usually go there when I'm in Jacksonville to see birds and other wildlife.

There wasn't a whole lot happening in the heat of the day. We saw a couple of egrets (above), some cardinals, a red-bellied woodpecker, an osprey, a buzzard and some small crabs.

The cardinals, both males, sat in the trees and called to each other, beener-beener-beener.

This picture of a distant boater on the waterway shows how hot it was -- you can see the heat ripples in the air. I would not want to be out on that boat. That looks miserable.

After a sweaty walk in which we continually brushed away deerflies that did their best to penetrate the barrier of our insect repellent, we retreated again to the air-conditioned car. Blessed air conditioning! We drove to Neptune Beach, where we had exotic tacos at the Flying Iguana -- in my case, one seared scallop, and one green tomato and black-eyed-pea. We found a colorful, aquatically decorated sculpture of a jaguar (top photo) outside the restaurant.

One of the things I wrestled with on this trip was what to do with my great-grandmother's quilt. It was on Mom's bed when we visited, and it had obviously been worn by recent laundering. I initially thought I might take it home to preserve it -- Mom was always hesitant to use it, and it's mostly been in drawers and closets as long as we've had it. But then I thought, "Why?" I don't think my great-grandmother would mind it being used by Mom under these circumstances, and we can't save everything as if we lived in a museum. Maybe Mom derives some comfort from its familiarity. I left it there.

Today I'm headed back to Tampa.