A million sparkling lights

The 4th of July never seems quite right with just David and I. I always miss the family potluck with all those great traditional dishes, hamburgers, fresh vegetables, blueberry or cherry pie. And the growing excitement for dusk, when the fireworks begin. I have always loved fireworks. I love the loud bang followed by an explosion of colored light. I love waiting expectantly for the next display of sparkling light, scattering from a single point, then falling slowly toward the ground until they slowly fade to darkness. The unintentional sinchrony of the 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the crowd.

David and I do our best. We grill some steaks, cook some baked beans, and slice up a juicy, sweet watermelon. But we usually don't get motivated enough to go to fireworks show. We always talk about it, but then decide not to go because we don't want to fight the crowds. Not a very good excuse. This year, it was just growing dark, and I said, "Well,. I guess we're going to miss the fireworks again."

"Let's go find some, then," David said.

So we threw on some shoes and hit the pavement. We could here explosions all around, but could just see a glimmer of light through the trees. We needed to get to high ground. "We need a parking garage, quick, to Sunset Place!"

We hurried up to the parking garage and frantically pushed the elevator up button. We got in and David hit the button for the 8th level. When we got there, we were amazed. As far as the eye could see were fireworks, popping to the left, and then to the right, far off in the horizon. Each town of greater Miami had their own show going on, almost simulataneously. Not to mention all of the "backyard" shows going on. We were just in time to see the finale for the show at the hospital, just a few blocks away.

So we didn't get to spend the holiday with family. But at least we got to share the fireworks with the entire city of Miami.

HOT!!!!

Man, it's hot. I had to work outside for a half hour and I thought I was going to have a stroke. In days like these, a patch of shade can save your life. I don't think there is such a thing as an outdoorsy kind of person to be found in South Florida in the summer.

What's the temperature now you ask? 96 F. That's right, almost 100 degrees! This isn't Arizona, there's no "dry" heat here. It feels like you are walking through a thick soup. And to top it off, you've got mosquitoes, gnats, fire ants. It's dangerous out there folks.

Gators everywhere

Or The Everglades, Part 1.

Well, I have been very busy with my dissertation of late, and have put the blog on the back burner. But I was meaning to post about the visit my family paid us this March. It had a decidedly Everglades theme to it, and I must say I found a new appreciation for this hotbed of biological diversity. Of course, everyone thinks of alligators as synonomous with the Everglades. In fact, while travelling along the Tamiami Trail (Highway 41) back from Naples, David and I had some hot, tired-looking tourists enquire where they might spot one of these magnificent carnivores. I wondered, had they been looking in the canal along the road at all, where they should of seen dozens of the reptiles basking on the banks? My answer to them was Shark Valley, one of the public entrances to Everglades National Park, where you are absolutely guaranteed to see gators, to the point that they seem positiviely passé.

I have absolutely fallen in love with the bike trail at Shark Valley, although I probably won't be visiting again until fall, when the mosquitos are less ubiquitous and the weather isn't so hot. The trail is a 15 mile loop, starting at the Visitor's Center. Out at the far end of the trail is an observations tower, from which you can see all sorts of birds roosting in the trees. I love listening to them chatter and squawk. They could be called the Everglades Symphony. You can rent bikes at Shark Valley for around $8/hr, or bring your own.

For those of you who can't or don't want to bike the loop, you can take a tram ride around the trail. The best part of this is that a ranger guides the tour, and so you learn about the biology and ecology of the sawgrass prairie, as well as its natural history. The tram rides make the park accessible to everyone. You can even walk along the trail for a bit. Right out by the Visitor Center is where I have seen some of the most wildlife, including a Little Green Heron and an Anhinga nest.

I've now done the trail by bike and tram, and the place never fail to strike a sense of wonder in me. It is thrilling to watch the anhinga, the herons and egrets, the ibises and storks, fishing, roosting, relaxing. When you drive through the Everglades at 70 mph, it looks like a flat see of sawgrass, and seems like it doesn't hold a candle to the national parks out West. In the Everglades, you have to slow down and look a little more closely to really appreciate its beauty.

For the next post, we'll stay in the Everglades, but travel to the mangrove estuaries...