Harns Marsh sandhill cranes

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Florida scrub jays fun in Cape Coral

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painted buntings

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for Sharon

I am looking across the table at you

Busy with your crafts project, focusing intently

Threading the wire, using the crimping tool

Inspecting the earring you have repaired.

I enjoy watching you as I type these words

Practicing my craft here on my side of the table.

You are making alterations to old earrings

While I work on my form of documenting our life.

We are here in Florida as new retirees.

It is evening as we are starting our third week.

The illusion is that we have all the time in the world

To do whatever we want and only what we want.

We are here this year just for the winter

Enjoying our escape from the cold north.

We go out every morning to explore nature

Wearing binoculars to better see the birds.

Sometimes we walk, sometimes we bike.

Always we enjoy being outdoors being alive.

Today we went looking for painted buntings

Finding the house with the feeder they visit.

It’s a house by the Caloosahatchee River some miles upstream

Across from the post office in an old town named Alva.

A retired couple from Michigan moved there

Living out their days in her father’s house.

We stopped in front when we saw the feeders.

Is this the White's house we wondered?

Leon was on the front porch and called hello.

He came out to introduce himself.

How nice to be welcomed when we were strangers.

Lois invited us onto their porch and into their chairs

Where we chatted about our lives and watched

The beautiful painted buntings show themselves off.

Leon and Lois are older than us.

They used to travel around more.

Now they wait for the world to come to them.

We so enjoyed their hospitality and advice.

As we were leaving we went to their back yard

To see their grand old live oak trees twined together

And pick some delicious ripe oranges from their tree.

Then Leon told me to do things now while we still can.

cypress slough and linear park

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