How to fill time in retirement

 Food! Food! Glorious Food! This post is mostly random thoughts I have been having the past few months about food, drink, bucket list items, and my health. I started to go out more to be more social but then I saw that I started to gain weight. I had toned down my bucket list item to eat at one new eating establishment every week, which I did for three years, down to one new place every two weeks which I also did for three years. Then the pandemic dropped that down to only six new places per year. But it is getting harder for me, reason unknown, to hit new places. So I started thinking that maybe I should change the list to be just 52 different places in the year. Some that are new, some that are old favorites, and some that I went to once as new but never gave a second chance after the first visit. What a great idea but I am not sure how to organize a spreadsheet; there has to be a spreadsheet... So I visited the Zoo for some guidance and introspective thought... What do those ani...

 This morning I headed out to the beach for a special occasion and photo opportunity. There was no yellow submarine but there was a green turtle named Van Gogh being released after rehabilitation at Brevard Zoo. I like going to these events because they are so inspiring. Van Gogh came into the Zoo's care back in March after being found washed ashore by the @seaturtleps. They arrived at our doorstep lethargic, hypoglycemic, and covered in marine leeches. After a few months of R&R and attentive care from our veterinary staff, Van Gogh finally returned to the ocean. The Zoo advertises the event on Facebook.  I bet there were over 150 people there today. Although it was another cloudy day, there was a lot of activity on the beach. Kids playing and surfers riding the waves... There were two TV crews filming the happy event. They always carry the turtle around the crowd so everyone can get a look and wish the turtle good luck. Since school is out for the summer, there were more...

 It took a pandemic for me to put up a bird feeder in my front yard. My dad had given me a feeder back in the 1980s, but I became discouraged by the squirrels and took it down. Then In 2020, I was stuck at home so in October I bought a new bird feeder. It has brought me lots of pleasure. But, those damn squirrels still come around! Here is a small sampling of the bird visits in 2024. A great photo opportunity also, of course I start with a Blackbird, or is it a grackle, or.... Regular visitors include the Blue Jays. For a while, I was also putting out peanuts to keep the squirrels busy. I found out that the Blue Jays were big fans of the peanuts in a shell. This Blue Jay wanted to show me that his wings were blue. Just recently I had these visitors. They are Blue Crowned Parakeets, also known as Conures. They are wild but normally are pets. The Brevard Zoo has had them. We also have in Melbourne, for over 40 years, a flock of Monk Parakeets. They have visited my bird feeder in the ...