A beautiful sight: The American Bald Eagle

Happy New Year everyone.  BD and I are 2 hours into the Twilight Zone Marathon on the SciFi channel, and its doubtful either of us will be up until midnight, but I’m looking forward to 2009 just the same.  I hope everyone has a safe and happy evening!

On our way home from Gainesville today, BD and I stopped at the Myakka River State Park, just East of Sarasota.  

Warm Mineral Springs: A Taste of Eastern Europe in Southwest Florida

BD and I have been enjoying a few glorious days in Florida.  The sun has been shining and the temperature has been in the mid 80s, and the humidity is low.  My dad’s house here is a wonderful refuge from the depression and stress of the last few months, and I’m glad that BD and I have been able to come.  The house is adjacent to a magnificent pond (pictured here) which is home to lots of lily pads, fishes, an Anhanga, a Great Blue Heron, a Great Egret, some super endangered species called a Scrub Jay, a couple of cool ducks, a gazillion turtles (see one, below), a romp of otters, and a few alligators (seriously).  I could probably come down here and just spend a week gazing out at the wildlife on the pond and watching the birds fish.

I’m moving!

Okay I’m not really moving, the title of this post is a total lie.  

However, I am on a trip to Florida with BD starting today and ending the 1st week in January.  When we left Allentown this morning at 6 am it was about 4 degrees out (or so it seemed), and when we landed in Tampa around 11 am, it was approaching 80 degrees and beautiful sunshine was shining everywhere around us.  I’d move if I could.

Today was mostly low key, just grocery shopping since my dad doesn’t keep any vegetarian food in his house, and showing BD around to a few of the sights.  

For dinner tonight we had black bean burritos.  Black beans are a common food in Florida and one of my favorite foods no matter what my location is.  I expect to eat a lot more over the next two weeks, so…. stay tuned!

*the picture above is a cell-phone shot from a trip I took just over 3 years ago of the sun setting over the gulf of mexico.  I plan to recreate the scene tomorrow night.

Veggie Shrimp?

Tonight I am going to attempt to cook Vegetarian Prawns for the first time.  I haven’t eaten a shrimp or prawn in about 17 years, so it will be like a new experience for me.  I am keeping my fingers crossed… updates to come!

Give me Liberty or Give me Beer

Actually, I’m not really much of a drinker, but when I do drink, I like specialty beers from small breweries such as Southern Tier.  The image above is for one of my very favorite beers, Pumpking.  They also make a great wheat beer called “Heavy Weizen.”  

I’m getting off track already…. This post is really about the Liberty Street Tavern, in Allentown’s west end.  

What is wrong with North Whitehall?

I won’t spend a ton of time on this subject, since it has already been covered pretty well here, here, here, here, and most extensively here, but I’d just like to say that it is MIND BOGGLING to me that the North Whitehall Township Supervisors could be so short sighted as to invite Walmart into their once-lovely community.  

Music for your ears

Yesterday I blogged a bit about Strand of Oaks, one of my very favorite bands.

Here is an mp3 from a live set from August 2008, in Sommerville, MA.

The song is entitled “Sterling.”  It is available for download, along with the rest of this set at this website.