the sleppys

We took a different kind of trip to the Everglades today. Dad woke up at five in the morning and started on breakfast. I made sure the children were dressed and prepared for the day’s hikes. We piled into the van at six-twenty and drove to the Anhinga Trail.

The sun was coming up quickly, and it was already sunrise when we got there. The photographers were out, taking pictures of the birds’ morning feeding. We saw more kinds of birds that usual. A Black-crowned Night Heron stood quietly along the water. A few common thrush????? skitted back and forth, between the pond apple trees and the sawgrass.

The boys took a hike on the Gumbo Limbo trail while I sat with the girls in the breezeway.

At Flamingo, we drove by a group of birdwatchers and photographers who were observing an osprey that was having a meal on its nest.

We weren’t too impressed Flamingo, the last stop on the Everglades’ Main Road. The camp sites were all open, no privacy, no shade. Well, it was the beach. There was a parking lot across the street from the camp sites. We prefer to have some foliage for privacy, some shade, and our van right next to our picnic table.

On the way back, we stopped for a meal at Parotus Pond. One particular Swallow-tail Kite kept showing off for us – or checking us out while we had lunch. It flew gracefully, moving its v-shaped tail at all angles. A Roseate Spoonbill flew over us as soon as we got there. It was a very pretty bird, all pink. The hawks ki-reed at each other right over top of us, hovering in the wind. The other hawk was about 100 yards away. There were plenty of turkey vultures hoping around, too.

We LOOKED AT where an alligator was sitting earlier. We formed hypotheses on how he used his claws to get back into the water. We knew that he was there earlier because we stopped by Parotus Pond while on our way to Flamingo and saw him.

We also had some small talk with a couple from Pennsylvania. They were familiar with Yeungling.

Bonnie came over this evening with her daughters. She had called me earlier this afternoon, asking us to go over to her house, but it was really short notice. Piling all of us into the van and staying out until nine wasn’t really in the cards for us, but we told her that we would appreciate her company. We already had plans for dinner as did she, so we kept them. She came over with some Pollo Tropical and sat at our table to have dinner with her daughters. Dad had already started a tomato sauce for our Mexican pizzas that we were going to have for dinner.

After they ate, we all went outside, where the children (our five and her two) played hide-n-seek and chased the dog around the yard. Her older daughter brought out the guitar, and we sang “The Blue Tail Fly” and other songs. Taylor kept bringing us beers from the refrigerator.

Karina and Natalie (Bonnie’s daughters) got acquainted enough with our dog, Isis. Toward the end of the visit, Natalie, 2, was petting the dog.

Dad started a backyard fire. It was small enough to fit in our home made pit. As it got closer to dusk, we brought out the skewers and marshmallows and roasted them in the backyard fire.

Our children were getting really hungry as they hadn’t had dinner yet, so I toasted flour tortillas in the oven and made Mexican pizzas with a side of the pasta and artichoke salad that Dad made for lunch. Bonnie’s daughters had some leftover pasta, and the children all ate together at the table – after Ty led them in grace, of course.

After dinner, we cleaned up, found Karina’s shoes using teamwork and our flashlights, and Bonnie and her daughters went home.

It’s on days like these that I just want to forget the home schooling and take the guitar out to the front yard and strum it while the children chase each other. It’s quiet today, with only the breeze making a sliding down through the trees. No big engines. No lawn crews. No loud music from neighbors’ homes. Just birds’ chirping, honking, mewing, cheetering, and all those wonderful noises that define the springing of the year. The skies are partly cloudy but mostly sunny. Under the shade of a strangler fig is the perfect spot to sit and practice the tin whistle.

Dad woke up extra early this morning to go with his friend to the Everglades. They planned to catch the sunrise.