Beautiful Sarasota.....and Happy Mother's Day!

Sarasota, FL      High:   83      Low:   70

We went out for breakfast this morning at Broken Egg in Lakewood Ranch....It's our little tradition to drive around the lakes surrounding Lakewood Ranch and see if we see any wildlife...Sparky is looking for 1) gators, and 2) unusual birds.... It's just a beautiful drive and we always see Great Blue herons, ibis, great white herons, and lots of egrets. If we get lucky, we see roseate spoonbills. Today, we saw both gators and spoonbills---YAY!

The gator was on the golf course...Sparky got a photo from across the street after being warned by Eldo that golfers do NOT like spectators anywhere near them, even if just walking on the golf path. Or is it gators do NOT like anyone near them! In this case, the golf path was no where in sight, so Sparky had to rely on her little point and shoot zoom to capture the gator in front of the golfers. One of the golfers saw the gator and as soon as he whipped out his camera phone to take a photo, the gator plopped back into the water. Better into the water and not headed for the golfers!

Then on the way back along the road while looking for a garage sale, Sparky spotted a roseate spoonbill in a residential wetlands. "STOP THE CAR! IT'S A SPOONBILL, ELDY!" and of course, my man stops the car as soon as it's safely possible, Sparky hops out and heads for the wetlands on a dry path, stealthily stepping very slowly, SLO-O-O-W-W-LY towards the spoonbill, trying to get a better photo with her puny little point and shoot 16X zoom.

Eldy patiently drove around in circles in this residential neighborhood until he spotted Sparky heading back towards the road. SCORE! Spoonbill in flight!

Sparky is stepping out of third person mode here for a bit....

It's Mothers' Day...and Happy Mother's Day to all our wonderful readers that are mothers, step-mothers, and role models for those who don't have mothers...

I am so blessed to be a mother to two fine daughters...Kelly, my oldest, and Kerry, my youngest.

Kelly

Kerry

They have made me so proud to be their mom. They are funny, smart, and very hard working gals. They are thoughtful and loving to me and are making a noticeable difference in this world by their great attitudes, kindness to others, and great work ethics. Kerry is a first time mom this year, so it's an especially special Mothers' Day to me because of that, too. The mom cycle has come full circle. :-) It is very gratifying to see what a wonderful mother she is to her little son.

I am also a stepmother, so to speak, although not officially, to Eldy's two children, Kristi and Brian.

Brian

Their mom passed away in 2006. They are also two wonderful children who I'm proud to say are a part of my family, too!

Kristi

My mother, who was 96, passed away in 2008.

Mildred Dudley Baughman....Born in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1912. She was a beautiful soul...She never judged anybody by their color, religious preference, sexual, or political preference, she was the most tolerant person I ever knew. She had gay friends who loved her to pieces! She had lots of friends who thought she was wonderful, just like we did. She lived life with a joie de vive (joy for life) and danced well into her 90's. Guys half her age and more would see her dancing in place when she went out with my sister and her husband, and fellows would come up and ask her to come out on the dance floor to dance and she did! She LOVED music and I thank her for passing that gene on to me. She never complained when she was sick, she never got cranky in her elder years, and everybody who met her wanted to be her friend and help take care of her when she became ill. She laughed a lot, and kidded a lot. She'd get to laughing so hard, she cried. She was loving, kind and supportive to all five of us kids, and never tried to tell us what we SHOULD have done when we made mistakes, big ones! And she forgave us when we strayed. She was ALWAYS positive in her outlook on life and had sort of that, "It is what is is" kind of attitude when hardships happened. She married three times--her first two husbands died---the first one died in Hong Kong when the Japanese attacked in WWII, and the second one died six weeks after they were married, when he got polio of the lungs, and then she married my dad. It was not a good relationship, but she tried to make it work for 40 years. She enjoyed her last years as a very happy, independent lady and truly was an anchor, a haven for our family. Today, of all days, I miss my mom the most.....I love you, Mom, and miss you very very much!