"I'll Follow the Sun"

When I first started this BLOG, it was at the time I had just retired and I wanted to keep a journal of my activities during retirement. My dad had taken my Mom to Florida for retirement after I went off to college, and he kept a journal. I like reading it now, and I tried to type it into the computer, but I am a slow typist and my dad wrote a lot.

Lately, I have fallen into the trap of writing rarely and pretty much about my dining and reading activity, but I am doing a lot more than that. I need to focus more on the day to day activities and not the bucket list. Maybe I will give it up and I'll Follow the Sun..

Or the Moon. During the early morning hours of March 3, there was going to be a total eclipse of the moon. I went out the evening before  to check the weather, and it was starting to cloud over so I took this shot of the full moon. Sadly to say, when I got up at 6 am, the moon, which was suppose to be eclipsed, was covered by clouds and so no Red Moon photos. At least I tried...

On March 4, I drove over to Erna Nixon Park in Melbourne for a nature photo walk. The freeze killed a lot of plants, and I did not see one animal, bird or mammal, during the whole walk, but the trees were beautiful. Nancy mentioned they have moonlight walks here, maybe I will give that a try sometime. For now, I'll Follow the Sun...

I take a lot of photos of birds that visit my bird feeder and bird bath in my front yard. I was taking a picture of a bird on the ground when this mourning dove did a Photobomb.

On March 11, I decided to drive over to the Orlando Wetlands in Christmas Florida. A great spot for nature photography and only about an hour drive from my house. While checking the drive in Google Maps, it give me a different route than normal that included  a road I have never driven, Taylor Creek Road. It was a nice two lane scenic drive.

I arrived at the Wetlands about 9:30 AM and took this picture of the recently built visitor center. I still have not visited it. But it makes for a great photo.

If you go to the Orlando Wetlands, you can expect to do lots of walking. They do have a few days of the week a small tram (big golf cart) that will carry you to certain spots. I just like the variety of wildlife. As I was walking the boardwalk, I saw a pair of birds fly over and one stopped in the reeds. It was a green heron peeking at me through the grass.

The water under the boardwalk is so clean you can see all kinds of fish. I think this was a gar that was just sitting in the sun.

The boardwalk I mentioned; with lots if photographers on it. Let's just say I had a little Lens Envy. Of course, I had to go see why they were gathered there.

There were many nests in the trees including this one with Roseate Spoonbills. Although the front two birds are large, I don't think they have left the nest yet because they are chicks, but they look ready to go...

And the birds do fly often in the Orlando Wetlands.

There are even lots of flowers. I liked this yellow one, which was also liked by the honey bee on it.

Of course no wetlands is complete without some Florida gators around. I watched this guy glide into shore and hide in the grass. I think it was waiting for me to move on so it could cross the path. Here it takes a peek at me to see how far away I was.

There was an older couple who I warned about the alligator. They stayed off the path to pass by the gator. Someone said that it may have just wanted a spot in the sun.

This ten foot gator was right next to the path. I will admit I was a little anxious as I passed it by.

As I circled back to the parking lot, this guy was busy cleaning up the driveway, enjoying the music blaring in his headset. I knew he had music on because he was shaking his booty...

After the Wetlands, I headed back down Taylor Creek Road which passes Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area (WMA). I did not go down the access road but it is a potential place to visit for more wildlife photos.

It was near lunch time so I decided to stop at the Lone Cabbage on SR 520. I wrote about it in my last dining post as a New place that I dined. They also have Airboat rides along the beautiful St Johns River. This river flows North all the way to Jacksonville. It is 310 miles long, the longest in Florida, and drops only 30 feet from source to its end in the Atlantic Ocean. They call it a Lazy River.

On Friday the 13th, I went to Lou's Blues but took no pictures. 

On March 14, Pi Day, I went out in the morning to watch a SpaceX launch. It was a beautiful day for a launch and I was heading to the Melbourne Saint Patrick's Parade in downtown Melbourne.

Melbourne was crowded because the St Paddy's Festival hosted by Meg O'Malley's was also starting. The street were crowded at 10 AM and yes, people were already drinking.

I plan to do a separate post on the parade with photos.

Across from the Taco Dive on New Haven was this sign. Searching online, I found that Kpiku Lechonera is a Puerto Rican restaurant specializing in lechón (slow-roasted whole pig). They serve authentic Puerto Rican roasted pork, often served with traditional sides like arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas), morcilla (blood sausage), and other comida criolla. I need to add this to my dining list. Maybe Brandon and Debbie would like to go.

For lunch I headed to Hell n' Blazes. They had this sign out front...

Headed back, after a few strong stouts, to the Megs party. I heard a bird singing away and saw this House Sparrow above a nest along the New Haven Avenue. 

It was too early for the stage to be active, but they have a big line-up for three days of celebrating

I did stop to hear the Bagpipe band play in front of the host restaurant.

Today is March 17, but a cold front went through during the night. It is cloudy and cool (in 60s), so not sure if I am heading downtown again.

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"I'll Follow the Sun" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It is a ballad written and sung by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released in 1964 on the Beatles for Sale album in the United Kingdom and on Beatles '65 in the United States.

When asked about the lyrics, McCartney commented: "I wrote that in my front parlour in Forthlin Road. I was about 16. 'I'll Follow the Sun' was one of those very early ones. I seem to remember writing it just after I'd had the flu and I had that cigarette. I remember standing in the parlour, with my guitar, looking out through the lace curtains of the window, and writing that one."

McCartney explained, "The next [single] had to always be different. We didn't want to fall into the Supremes trap where they all sounded similar, so we were always keen on having varied instrumentation. Ringo couldn't keep changing his drum kit, but he could change his snare, tap a cardboard box or slap his knees."