Sunday, March 15, 2015

THREE FIRSTS... (#1 of 3 POSTS TODAY)

Spring is in the air here, with colourful  blossoms and many of the familiar birds we'll see back home in a couple of months.


 But the week was special for three first-time events for us.  Love the new stuff! The first first was a rare nighttime rocket launch from the Kennedy Space Center within sight of our place. A satellite to test atmospheric magnetism atop the reliable Atlas C rocket. We had seen daylight shuttle launches in the past, but this one lit up the dark sky like a --- well, like a rocket! I've put in a pic of the sunset 4 hours before blast-off for comparison. Both are awesome!





Then there's a first-time Beach n' Boards Fest here, with surfing and other beach action. Lots of fun for all the Spring Breakers in town. Kid's bellyflops, teens half-pipe, and pro surfers. The latest toy is the Surfer Dude that you throw into a wave and it surfs back to you, sort of like a salt-water boomerang. Note the first-time thrower on shore?!






The surfing is, like, gnarly, dude! and draws the biggest crowds and the prize money. But if you can name the champion surfer signing autographs, your board is way saltier than mine...






But the third and most amazing first was accidentally finding a manatee cove full of those lovable big slow sea cows!! It's in a protected wildlife refuge and the water was an ideal 70F for them to wallow and feed in grotty (but yummy if you're a manatee!) bays. You learn that their closest relative is the elephant. And that they've been around for 60 million years. And that extinction is inevitable. All the more incredible just seeing them in the wild. Thankyou Mother Nature!




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