Sunday, April 9, 2017

Bike Riding Beauties

Sparky had been riding her bike in between subbing days, averaging anywhere from 12-20 miles a couple of times a week until she was sidelined with severe tendonitis on an ankle. No idea how that happened except thru ignoring a slight twist that must have happened months ago, then dancing her booty off a couple of months ago, then wearing not enough shoe support while subbing....all of the above, probably. It got to the point where she could hardly walk at the end of the day after subbing. Can't have that, so off to the doctor. The ankle was taped for a few days, and Sparky was told no bike riding (that is one of the worst things you can do for a bad ankle, the doctor said) and no swimming for three weeks. That was tough, following the doctor's orders. Then Sparky got a Trilock ankle brace which was great, and that helped a great deal. It's a little bit of an ordeal to put on, but you get faster at it after a few uses. TONS of velcro everywhere on it, always catches in the wrong place, so you have to keep unpeeling it until you get all the straps on layer by layer. After a month, the ankle still hurts now and then, but physical therapy is about to begin, so that should strengthen it, MAYBE.

Back to bike riding...YIPPEE! And here are some of Sparky's favorite photos from recent bike rides....All the photos are with a Canon SX530, a little point and shoot camera, currently just under 200.00, and it has a nice 50X zoom. If the pictures are with an iPhone, Sparky has captioned them as such.  Red lilies....

An osprey on the nest.....She's feeding two little ones and has a bit of fish caught on her beak.

Here's the dad preening....

March was the month for many sandhill crane hatchings in the area...Sparky took LOADS of photos of the mama and the babies, and here is ONE of her favorites...That's the mama's leg on the right.

Sparky was thrilled to catch a yellow rump warbler sitting still long enough to get a photo.
Blackbirds are a dime a dozen around here, but isn't this one beautiful with the iridescent shades of blue in its feathers?

Sparky's favorite Florida bird, the roseate spoonbill. This one was chosen to be featured in a weekly newspaper in our area...

Sparky likes the bottle brush tree...There are always little busy bees on them....This photo is with the iPhone 6S.

And finally....a limpkin or glossy ibis...It has the head plumage of a limpkin, and the body of the glossy ibis...But Sparky thought it was gorgeous....


Hope you enjoyed today's nature show!  Sparky will be back soon with tales from Sarasota Jungle Gardens, a very cool place to visit if you are in the area....Bye for now....

Monday, April 3, 2017

A Trip to Quaint and Quirky Matlacha, FL

Sparky went to see her sister in Matlacha, (pronounced Mat-la-shay) recently. Her sister comes down every year in March, and has come to this delightful town for over 30 years! They always find a lovely rental to stay in...

post office mural created by Leoma Lovegrove, local artist
Matlacha is a very very small tourist town, population 735 or so. It is located on Pine Island, 17 miles long and 2 miles wide, and is one of five very small communities on the island. If you are interested in Matlacha as a vacation destination, you will not find sandy white beaches and you won't find high rises. What you will find is a quirky, quaint little town with artsy shops,  galleries, some fabulous murals, great restaurants, and a one main street through town. Don't blink or you will miss it and then you are off on a journey to the next fishing village/community.


typical colorful storefront on the main drag


Matlacha has an interesting, relatively new local history chapter. Up until 1992, it was an "old"
Florida fishing village. In 1992, voters passed a ban on net fishing to protect other fish from being caught with the popular mullet. That didn't sit well with the fishermen.  They shot holes in their boats and then set them on fire in protest.  Guess it was quite the fire and was seen from as far away as Sanibel Island. That was the end of the fishing industry in Matlacha! So Matlacha reinvented itself as an artist community, and it's very well known for its bright funky colors and cute little shops that line the one street through town....Even the telephone poles have murals on them! However, if you want to fish, there are charter boats that will take you out for a terrific day out in the gulf.
another interesting looking shop
There are a few small motels, and quite a few vacation cottage rentals. They are pricey, but that's southwest Florida for you....Here is one rental my sister and brother-in-law found while they were here this year....

And another little cottage rental....situated on the docks!

The tiny island has six galleries..In February, there is a Fine Art Festival, and art lovers and collectors come from all over the world to browse...If you love the island life, this is the place for you! Plenty of kayaking, no stoplights, no schools on the island, and it's "island time".....that means NOBODY is in a hurry to get anywhere... As an additional little known fact, Matlacha also has supposedly SEVEN Civil War shipwrecks in and around the waters of Matlacha Pass and Pine Island. Divers, anyone?
Bus stop in Matlacha...one park bench

If you love to kayak, just keep in mind that "Matlacha" in Calusa native American means "shallow waters"...Sparky kayaked with her sister, and you could have easily walked beside your kayak in a LOT of the areas we were in. Of course, the tide was out, too.... :-) There are several kayak rentals places in the area if you don't own one. It was so shallow, we saw crab traps with decent size crabs in them. If you look hard, you can see one in this trap.

As far as dining, Bert's Bar is a required stop for ANYONE visiting Matlacha...fantastic views of the water, great beach bread, (sort of a garlic cheese bread with mayo and garlic and other stuff) and terrific seafood. That one just happens to be Sparky's favorite. Bert's Bar will be remembered this year because Sparky leaned over the dock to check for fish, and her sunglasses fell off her head and  into the water, down, down, down they went. Oh, well...not expensive ones, just about the tenth pair of "fit over" sunglasses from Walmart....She should get prescription sunglasses! Maybe....
At Bert's Bar
In surrounding communities, there are many more restaurants with good food. The Lazy Flamingo in Bokeelia, a nearby community, is another great restaurant where we had a wonderful lunch. On the way back, we stopped at a little art shop in Bokeelia...and saw this mailbox in front of the shop. Oh, my! Told you it was a quirky place! :-)

The only drawbacks to this destination, Matlacha, is the constant flow of traffic thru the one street town surrounded by water on both sides. The traffic is TERRIBLE during season. You just crawl at about ten miles an hour or less to get through town. Parking is at a premium, there is not enough on the island! and involves backing out of tight spaces onto the one main street and hoping somebody will be on "island time" and let you out, stopping and holding up the rest of the traffic while you exit your parking place. Despite the lack of parking and the jockeying to find a place, my sister plans to come back again next year. They already have their rental picked out! Sparky is happy because sis lives so far away in Michigan that this is a great time to see her and get together.....It's a little over an hour's drive from Sarasota. Wonderful! See you again next year, Sis!
Lyle and Sparky