Category: Bugs

Categories
Astronomy Bugs Nature Travel Weather

The Major’s Walk-A-Thon: Special On-Location Edition – Everglades National Park

YESTERDAY I visited Everglades National Park to spend the day outside with nature. Here are my takeaways in 15 words or less:

– Me and a buddy arrived out there shortly after 9 AM while it was still foggy.
– I knew that it would eventually be a sunny and hot day – and it was.
– We took a cool 1 hour and 45 minute tour of the former Nike Missile Site.
– It’s a small abandoned military base that was active from 1964 to 1979.
– It’s remnants are now owned and operated by The National Park Service.
– They started giving (limited) guided tours of it just last year.
– Our tour guide – Ryan – was thorough and knowledgeable.
– Check out this article for more information on the site.
– After the tour and a quick Lunch in the car we went hiking on some trails.
– We took on a couple of easy trails at first – less than a mile combined.
– And then we went for the gusto.
– We went on a 6.0-mile hike through muck and mosquitoes.
– We walked the entire 2.6-mile length of the Rowdy Bend trail eastbound.
– Then we took the Snake Bight trail 0.3-miles south to Florida Bay.
– Then we walked the entire 3.0-miles all the way back to our car.
– I smothered myself with Off / Deet before the hike, but it wasn’t enough.
– The trails were totally infested with swarming and biting mosquitoes.
– They were drinking the Off / Deet, and biting through my shirt !
– In addition to the hundreds of mosquito bites I also got a facial sunburn.
– If I go out into the woods without sunscreen then I might just be a redneck.
– I was totally shocked as to the abundance of mosquitoes on the trails.
– They froze to death during the recent freeze, but then new ones took over.
– It’s been a very wet dry season, so it didn’t take long for new skeeters to be.
– They are totally hungry and thirsty for human blood, and so we were Lunch.
– After the 6.0-mile hike we ventured down to Flamingo on the Bay.
– We took a really nice 1 hour and 45 minute boat tour of Florida Bay.
– We went westward adjacent to the south coast and towards the sunset.
– The sun set at precisely 5:59 PM, as that’s when the disc touched the horizon.
– The sun hit the horizon and then took a mere 3 minutes to drop below it.
– It was one of the most perfect sunsets I have seen in my entire Life !
– There were no clouds in the way obscuring it in any way.
– As our sun was setting it was rising simultaneously in Shanghai China.
– It was a nice tour of the bay, and quite refreshing after a hot and sweaty day.
– Water temperatures on the bay have slowly recovered back to the upper-60s.
– It was recently much colder than that, and thousands of fish died.
– It didn’t smell very nice at the shore with all of the dead fish floating.
– It may take a couple of years for a normal fish population to return.
– I really enjoyed my day out with nature despite the bites and burns.
– I hope to do it again sometime before the end of the current dry season.
– Thank You God for all of your Glorious Creations !

Categories
Animals Bugs God Health Holidays Home Life Weather

The Major’s Walk-A-Thon

Time: 6:34 AM – 7:18 AM
Sky: Clear
Temperature: 61°F
Dewpoint: 60°F
Relative Humidity: 94%
Winds: N 7 MPH
Barometric Pressure: 29.99 Rising

Here are my walking thoughts in 15 words or less:

– This morning I walked around my neighbourhood in the chill.
– After an 81°F Christmas Day afternoon 61°F felt so nice and comfy.
– Wind chills were actually well into the 50s during my walk.
– I felt those 50s as I walked northbound into the cold winds.
– I walked for 44 minutes – about 2.4 miles.
– All of our dumpsters were jammed and crammed with Christmas gift boxes.
– Dear City Of Homestead – Please empty our dumpsters as soon as possible.
– We’ve got garbage-eatin’ ducks ’round these parts !
– We’ve got a lot of flying bugs where I live.
– They appreciate all of the thick foilage and big lakes around.
– They also appreciated my face as I walked right through them.
– During my walk in the dawn of this new day it was peaceful and quiet.
– I talked directly to God, and I thanked Him for all of His great creations.
– I prayed for all of my friends and neighbours – believers and non-believers.
– I prayed that God would bless us all like only He can.
– I thanked God for giving me a second chance at Life, for I am reborn !
– For 30 years I said and did what the world told me to say and do.
– I did what was cool – even if it was bad for my mind and for my health.
– Now I’m cleansing my body of all that is bad.
– It’s a physical walk to heal and strengthen my body on this walk with God.
– My Dad can no longer walk or even stand up.
– He’s confined to a skinny bed in a nursing home for the rest of his life.
– He has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis – also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
– I dedicate these physical walks to my Dad for all that I’ve learned from him.
– I thank my Father God for all that He’s blessed me with since He created me.

Categories
Blogging Bugs Driving Food Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

You’ve waited a full 7 days for this, and now you’ve got it. It’s the ‘Grab Bag’ !

1.  Once again today it’s the tale of two Homesteads. There’s the flooded Homestead (where I live), and there’s the dry Homestead (where I work). Over at the air base this afternoon we received barely a trace of rain. Here in my ‘hood nearly two inches of rain fell over the course of two hours. I can fully explain why this is happening, but I’d rather not bore you to bits.

2.  Yesterday (Monday) at Lunchtime there was an ENORMOUS vehicle collision on East Biscayne Drive (SW 288TH St.) between Wendy’s and the air base. It happened during the 10 minutes or so that I was at the Publix at Waterstone. As I proceeded back towards the base the scene was barely unfolding with mass chaos everywhere. It was probably one of the worst accidents that I have ever seen in my over 20 years of driving on that particular stretch of roadway. One woman was even airlifted via helicopter from the scene of the accident. 3 hours later the road was still a nightmare. I had to take U.S. 1 from Moody Drive (SW 268TH St.) to Lucy Street (SW 328TH St.) just to get home.

3.  TODAY on my way to Lunch with a buddy from work my Saturn flipped over from 59,999 miles to 60,000 miles !  It happened westbound on Campbell Drive approaching the Oasis Shopping Center. That’s 60,000 miles of driving in 6 years, 2 months, and 1 week. I hit 50,000 miles exactly 15 months ago tomorrow, so that’s an average of about 667 miles per month – or 22 miles per day. I love living and working in the same city !

4.  Apparently I undervalued my antiquated cell phone. It is NOT a 2002 cell phone. It is actually a 2004 cell phone, and that’s when I actually bought it. I had another (even more antiquated) cell phone from 2002 to 2004. I recently realized that I can actually tweet with it, so even in its old age it still has a purpose driven life. A cell phone’s equivalent human age can be calculated simply by multiplying its actual age in years by 20. My cell phone is the equivalent of a 100-year-old ! 

My Cell Phone

5.  If you see a very low-flying C-130 Hercules aircraft hovering over the mean streets of Redland, Florida City, Homestead, Leisure City, Naranja Lakes, and Princeton early tonight and tomorrow night then have no fear. It’s a mosquito killing mission. Stay indoors as the poison is sprayed from above.

The ‘Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’ is taking a week off next week. Be sure to catch the next ‘Grab Bag’ in two weeks – on the 15TH of September. Be sure to check out an all-new ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’ later this week.

Categories
Animals Bugs Driving Travel

Monday Night Countdown

This past Saturday me and a buddy went exploring deep down into the Florida Keys; hence, continuing my ‘2009 Economic Stimulus Tour’ (of tourist attractions).

We visited the following places (in chronological order):

1.  Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park (Card Sound Road)
– We got eaten alive by hundreds of biting mosquitoes there. I’m still scratching.

2.  Long Key State Park (MM-67.4)
– Nice nature trail that leads to an observation tower.

3.  Curry Hammock State Park (MM-56.2)
– Popular family beach with a couple of tour buses and lots of kids playing.

4.  Sombrero Beach (MM-50.5)
– Nice public beach owned and operated by the City of Marathon.

5.  Crane Point (MM-50.5)
– Museum / Nature Center / Historic Site – My favourite place that we visited.

6.  Bahia Honda State Park (MM-36.8)
– Nice visitor center; We walked on the old U.S. 1 bridge !

7.  Big Pine Key / No Name Key / National Key Deer Refuge (MM-30)
Endangered Key Deer everywhere – right alongside our car !