almost the end of March - so before I forget

here's my favorites for the month

 coral growing on an underwater statue 

part of a group off the coast of Grenada called

"Vicissitudes"

1. a change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant.

in memory of the slaves that were brought there

1. 
   
2. 
   
3. 
   
   
4. here is the whole work - it forms an artificial reefvery powerful and very sad
   

1. 
   
2.  more cool science information

 check out these octopus eggs!

and

 these amazing pregnant sea horses

watch the male sea horse give birth here - you gotta see it

yep, the male, that's what I said

http://www.wimp.com/seahorsebirth/ 

nature is amazing - check out this flower 

J. we need to grow some of these

and

this is wonderful news!!!  very personal

when I graduated from Western Michigan with my degree in Biology

I took a job with a company that did lab testing

read - animal testing

IT WAS THE MOST HORRIFIC THING I HAVE EVER SEEN 

I was in what they called "acute toxicology" 

which meant we injected shampoo and make-up into the eyes of

mice, (ok nobody really cares much about mice)

rats (same)

but then bunnies - I love bunnies

the final straw was with the baboons - they broke my heart

our job was to inject, keep track of the time it took until they went blind

so you could have the luxury of thousands of shampoo choices...

every time a new one came on the market - we had to test it

The guys on my team realized I could not handle it so they made me the 

report writer

still it made me sick and I did not stay long at all....

and I think of it every time I buy shampoo

now for a happy photo

the Sand-hill crane

 is a common and exciting sight in SW Florida during the winter

what is not a common sight is to see the baby

last winter while driving a back road, I saw the golden baby feeding

near it's mother - it was magical

and this - I love science

they had nothing like this when I was in chemistry

it makes so much sense and puts it in perspective

or this kind of graphic 

wow!  that is actually scary......

OK now let's get political

 happy 80th birthday!!

 she said: "A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men."

right on Gloria!!

BUT STILL

how about these jerks

and then we still have these two...

 we never should have let these dogs in

and we are paying for it now

I hate to be the one to tell you Mr. Abbey but.....

we seem to have sadly woken up from that American Dream

and then words of wisdom from my favorite critic

no one says it better than

the Dali Lama

I love this man

 for my granddaughter - our tiny dancer

Sarah Jessica Parker: 

"My Feet Are DEFORMED From Years of Wearing High Heels"

Read more: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-style/news/sarah-jessica-parker-my-feet-are-deformed-from-years-of-wearing-high-heels-201383#ixzz2xSEFdGFc 

so toe dance or forget heels I guess

and

here's one for my daughter 

 that is her motto

we need this pool in our yard

and this 

is Stienbeck's famous boat that he and Ed Ricketts

combed the Sea of Cortez with in the late 40's

the book was a constant companion when I was combing

Baja in the late 70's

it showed up in Port Townsend recently in this bad shape

I hope someone will restore her and give her

her proper place in history

ps if you haven't read it, it's a wonderful book

"The Log from the Sea of Cortez"

full of great stories and fascinating biology of that area

published in 1951

and finally this crazy image

my friend says it reminds her of writing

I am thinking it is a commentary on reading

looks to me like someone does not love books the way I do

what do you think?

Peace

ps thanks to all my friends who help me find these great photos

a great day on the water

thanks to my friends who were kind enough to invite me out on their boat

the lucky dogs live on the water 

this is their dock on a back canal off Lemon Bay

our intrepid captain heads us out

 this is their house behind us

they did a great job of making it blend in with the landscape huh

  the water was a bright turquoise and it was a beautiful day

from their house we headed out to the Gulf of Mexico

 watching the shore retreat

 we came back through the cut and traveled north up ski alley

 this is the dredged channel that people use to ski, pull inner tubes

and jet ski

the peninsula toward the Gulf is a state park

and is lined with several nice beaches

and on a nice day they are filled with boaters

don't worry about the dead standing trees you see

they were invasive trees and were killed on purpose.....

 next stop the White Elephant Marina

where they make the best burgers - get the Elephant burger

it has bacon and avocado - yum

the happy crew after lunch

 back at the dock

thanks for a great day!!

whoa - is it March already??

what happened to my favorite photos from February??

sorry about that - here they are

I love this cabin, the cozy essence of winter

(truth is it was 60 here in Florida today

and I was freezing.....)

some dreams are better left as dreams 

Willie's take on this year's winter Olympics

his shirt says -

let the Russians play with themselves

Valentines's Day

  you can't forget Valentine's Day

  in February

I have to show you the gorgeous roses I got 

don't you love roses?  

note to self - brush hair often

yes!  that's it!

 so sweet - a miniature violin shop in a real violin

 photos like this really make me miss living in the

Pacific Northwest

this is the bumper sticker I am going to put on my car

here in the red state of Florida

and the good news this month is that my Dad won $1,000

on a scratch off ticket!

he was going for the $2,500 a week for life.....next time

he is a gambler and he has always been lucky

new motto 2014

"more beautiful for having been broken...."