Lake Seminole and Boca Ciega

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Fred Howard to Wall Spring March 2, 2017

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Fort DeSoto March 1, 2017

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twenty-five

A girl needs her father to be a parent;

A young woman can be his friend.

This is the greatest gift of growing old

Knowing the best is yet to be.

A parent encouraging his child to be a good person

Knowing the example I set is paramount

Imparting the joy of learning

Sharing with you a passion for social justice.

A quarter of a century with you grown into adulthood

Now you teach me how to give the gift to others

Exciting and inspiring happy elementary students

Receiving your fairness doctrine and creative lessons.

Their delighted surprise that math is beautiful and fun;

What heartfelt stories they learn to write so well;

Such an exploration and understanding in science;

American history as viewed from the indigenous people.

Public education is the way you make the world a better place

Preparing the next generation to have empathy and intelligence

Talking to today’s parents in a supportive manner

 So competent and effective you make me so proud.

Walsingham gardens February 28, 2017

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Northern Pinellas February 27, 2017

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Boca Ciega Great Horned Owls February 26, 2017

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bird words

Snipes and shrikes and piping plovers

Bird words I have heard

Learning the language of ornithology

Differentiating sounds and shapes and coloration.

If you like to be outdoors in nature

Walking through the woods and fields

Standing beside a stream or lake or seashore

You will see them best with binoculars.

Here today and usually gone tomorrow

Quick flight hops from branch to branch

Follow any movement to catch a glimpse

Before the avian form disappears.

This transitory presence appeals to me

Like the passage of time in the larger context

The birds in early morning and as sunset approaches

The shorebirds at low tide and migrants with the seasons.

The first time you see a bird that is new to you

That is a once in a lifetime thrill that never gets old

But the common birds all around us every day so familiar

Let us observe up close a life apart from us.

I take photos as a way to collect specimens

Examined closely compared with field guide images

Though my primary purpose is to frame the bird

To capture the beauty of the moment.