Birds and beach and fire and ash

Almost May, and today I'm choking on the unexpected, record breaking heat which has descended on Naples. Tiffany and the little girls come down to visit in a little over a week and I sure hope this goes back to normal temps. Of course it's always cooler at the beach and I expect that's where you'll find us.

I made it to the beach myself before the heat wave and had a couple serene hours. And then a sizable crowd showed up with all their paraphernalia  While season is now done, there is a whole other group that has descended for some blissful days in tropical Florida. I'm hearing a lot of German wafting through the air.

You may have read about the fires in Florida and we had one erupt fairly close to us (15 miles away). Most areas are way down on rainfall which makes for dry, brittle conditions even in the tropics. Even with a lot of miles between us we had a couple of days of hazy skies and ash actually dropping from the sky at one point. It reached 7,000 acres at its peak with a number of homes destroyed. It's 75% contained but a lesson in how no one is immune to these disasters. At this point I say with the exception of Tiffany's visit, the rainy season can start.

In the meantime, snow is melting away at Star Mt. revealing everyone's broken fences, and ours is no exception. Adding that to the repair list. The weight of that huge amount of snow did a lot of damage all over. Our damaged deck railing is soon to be repaired - this time going with a removable rail. We'll be prepared for the next winter of massive proportions, which probably won't happen again for 20 years. On other news, there's been a moose sighting at Star Mt. It is the third spring in a row that moose (singular) has been seen, this time a female. It is tantalizing to me as we're not there and I've missed a sighting every time. Maybe she'll stick around for when I'm back (early June).

My time left in Naples is starting to dwindle and feel like it. It's always a weird feeling to book a one way plane ticket but its the practical thing to do. When I leave I won't be back until October. Mark will come back and forth for two weeks at a time. A very odd life we're living but it works, at least for now.