I passed this clever Thanksgiving display between Osteen and New Smyrna Beach on the way to the beach the other day.
Warm temperatures and deserted beaches are the new normal for late November in Central Florida. Temperatures are forecast to stay in the low 80°s (27° C) into the first week of December.
A strong easterly wind off of the Atlantic is kicking up the waves. . .
below, a Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerula) is the only bird braving the choppy surf.
The Atlantic fetch is sending in a few coastal showers, though nothing to get excited about, yet.
The Sunflower Trees (Tithonia diversifolia) are in full bloom.
The trees are at least 18' tall this year (5½ meters tall).
R.I.P
Mr. Turkey
My neighbor's turkey was quite a character. These are the last photos I have of him from a few weeks ago. Mr. Turkey would follow me around trying to keep me away from his Mom (my friend). He was very attached to her.
Raccoons attacked Mr. Turkey about 2 weeks ago, stripping him of many of his feathers, which sent him into shock. He died soon after.
A black rat, left over from Halloween still hangs around on one of many pumpkins.
There is no shortage of black cats, either. Sometimes it is hard to tell the cats apart. I suspect they are all related.
The easterly fetch off the Atlantic sends in light showers that create rainbows in the late afternoons. . .
and some stunning sunsets.
We've Watched and Read:
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| Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood Judges of The Great British Bake Off |
You've got to read this irreverent GQ explanation of the most watched show in the U.K. last year (link above). The show is a hard sell in America. There is no back-stabbing, no conniving trash talk. For the winner there is no $1,000,000 prize (no prize money at all), no life-changing job working with the world's top pastry chef, no high-profile cookbook deal. . .not even any much-needed free dental care. A cake stand is the only prize. Huh?
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| Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins "Presenters" of the Great British Bake Off |
. . . and yes, we admit that we didn't watch THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF on Sunday nights (on PBS) because we would have missed HOMELAND, THE AFFAIR, and THE WALKING DEAD, but we did sit through all 10 hours on Mondays, on demand, sure that we would be able to pick the winner. Alas, we were unsuccessful. We even googled the cheesy co-hosts ("presenters" in UK) Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins (above) just to figure out what their claim to fame might be. We're still out on that one.
Outside Magazine does it again with its December 2015 issue in which Bear Grylls graces the slick, peel open cover. The interview, however, was perhaps the most disappointing of Bear's many appearances in Outside.
The Outside Online August 2012 Bear Grylls Interview was much more revealing. . .
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| Bear Grylls, Outside Magazine, August 2012 |
. . . or the April 2010 Outside Online Feature "Bear Grylls Plays Dirty". . .
or. . . just about any other interview with Bear Grylls was more interesting.
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| Bear Grylls, Outside Magazine, April 2010 |
I'm glad we finally know Allison's backstory, but this episode made me want to jump back in around Season 2, Episode 7, where Quinn first takes notice of Carrie and vice-versa. Its painful to see Quinn off in some dirty truck while Carrie is running around, crazy-eyed, trying to find who put the hit on her, alone.
. . .and as for this episode, wasn't it a little too easy for Carrie to figure out who the bad girl was, just from that screen saver image at the very end? Really? We know she's a genius when it comes to all that subterfuge but that screen saver was a little too literal (easy).
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| December, January, February Rainfall Forecast for USA Well-above Normal Rains forecast for California and Florida |
The most powerful El Niño on record continues gathering strength and is looking increasingly likely to bring heavy rains to California and Florida.
We're still waiting in Florida.
A few minutes into Sunday’s episode of “The Walking Dead” we learned, as many suspected, that actually wasn’t Glenn being consumed a few weeks ago. It was Nicholas, doing in death what he could never manage in life, which was to take one for the team. Shame on AMC for allowing this unrealistic ratings ploy to drag on so long.
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| Glenn, "The Walking Dead," Saved by a Dumpster Photo: Gene Page/AMC |
While Gleenbiguity was finally clarified with a solution that many saw coming it strained credulity all the same. Glenn had cheated the reaper. Poorly. The Walking Dead cheated its audience.
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| The Versace Animalier Brief A bargain at $150 a pair? |
Priced in a broad range from $24.99 (the figure at which men's underpants are considered "premium") to the $470 the French luxury-goods house Hermès charges for a pair of "Hermèsistible" woven boxers are briefs whose virtues are sometimes described in terms better suited to the aerospace than the apparel industry.