Home at last!

I am finally in Colorado. It feels great to be back home again.
Most of my stuff arrived Thursday and Friday, and I am beginning to get settled in.
I went to Taste of Colorado with my friend JT on Friday, to hear Little Feat. The sunset was shining off the gold dome of the Capitol building, set against a cobalt blue sky. It was wonderful. The band sounded phenomenal! Nobody can lay down a groove like Little Feat. You just can't help but move your body to the music. I know, it's a scary thing, Mikey doing the 'white guy dance,' but what can I say? It was beyond my power to stop it.

Speaking of music, I got together with Scotte for our first rehearsal with the new band, Ironwood Rain. It's so good to play with him again, we just mesh so well. That's what happens when you've played together for a long time.
I am so excited to be here in Colorado once again.
Stay tuned for more news and updates.

Sunrise in Ormand Beach

My last day* in Florida. Went to the beach to watch the sunrise.

Now THIS is the Florida I will remember fondly.

*right now, I'm stuck at the Daytona airport because Tropical Storm Fay is affecting flights in and out of Atlanta. But at least I found an Internet workstation and I can post pix while I wait.

THA MOVE

It's time. The boxes are all packed. Just a few things left to take to the PO to ship.
In the morning, I'll be leaving for a couple days in Melbourne with the Pyrates of the Coast. Then, up to Daytona to visit my (now former) roommate and her family. On Monday, I fly to Colorado! I am so excited.
I will be offline for a couple days. Then, watch out!!!
Stay tuned for updates.
See y'all soon!

gettting ready to move and saying goodbyes

Today I began to say my goodbyes to my friends here in Flordia. One week to go before the move...

Here I am with my friend Megan (a.k.a. "M-Bot"). I will miss her. She's so fun to work with. She always brings a smile to my face, no matter what. That kind of good energy is a gift and a blessing.

SPUD!

Today our friend Spud [named because of his love for french fries] stopped by for a visit and a treat.

After getting his fill of peanuts, he jumped up on one of the benches, trying to get the berries off the bushes.

I thought Megan was going to burst, she was so giddy.

Bubble Rings MOVIES!!!

Okay, two caveats:
1. The quality of the video is not exactly the best. However, I am selecting only the video clips that show the various aspects as best as I can get them with my camera.
2. You will see and hear the word 'awesome' repeatedly. It's inevitable.

08/1108
More movies.

Here you can see the creation of the bubble ring.

Up for air, and 'Shazam!' I swear it's like magic.

Keep your eye on the area in front of her rostrum (nose.) She breaks the big ring and makes a smaller one, pushing it along.
This morning, my friend Chris was there, he had never seen the dolphins do bubble rings before. He was amazed.

Upside down.

Simply amazing. You can't tell me they aren't having fun.

And here is one doing what I call 'the wobbly infinity symbol.'

Watch as he circles back around.
Awesome.

08/10/08
This morning I was exploring the capabilities of my digital camera while watching the dolphins. I caught one of the dolphins doing bubble rings, but this time, in a movie!

I can only think of one word...

AWESOME!!!

It gets a bit blurry as she moves away into the distance, but she is playing with the ring all the way to the end.

Gatorland!

I decided to do a few uniquely Florida activities while I'm still here. So I spent the afternoon at Gatorland, one of Orlando's most unique attractions. I really enjoyed the experience.

It was a hot day, upper 90's with a billion percent humidity. The weather report was upper 90s, but said that the heat index made it 'feel like' 105. At one point, I had sweated all the hydration out of my body, there was nothing but air... and my armpits began to whistle!

The marshland was spectacular. The way the park is designed, with the pathways going through the marshland, and the observation tower, is brilliant, and really preserves the feel of a natural habitat.
The people there are very friendly. I got to pet a baby gator, I even tried my hand at feeding the big boys while I was there:

Oh yes, those gators are real.

The legendary Gatorland entrance:


The marshlands:

The observation tower:



Some of the local inhabitants...
The gators:

A cute lil' guy:



Some big ol' crocodiles:


The birds were awesome. I had to be careful not to use up my entire memory card before I got to the gators and the shows:


Speaking of shows...
The was Gator Rasslin':


And the Gator Jumparoo Show:


There were other shows, but I was having so much fun I missed a couple of them. I was not worried, as I was having a blast.

The Exit:


I highly recommend Gatorland to anyone visiting Orlando. There's nothing else quite like it!

News, Updates, and the Move

It's official!I will be moving to Colorado in September, to be close to my family and to focus my energy on painting.

I had several offers that were just too good to pass up. I am very excited for the opportunity to focus my attention on painting full-time.

In addition, I will have the immediate moral support of family and friends, which is worth its weight in gold.

Stay tuned for more to come!

Dophins and Bubble Rings

While watching the dolphins at work, I finally had my camera in hand and caught them doing their bubble rings on film. I first witnessed this phenomenon over a year ago when one of the large females (Bailey, I believe) at work started doing this.

Over the past year, I have seen a couple of the dolphins playing with bubble rings. They create everything from small rings, to large ones the size of a hula hoop, and if you're lucky, you'll catch them making a helix, sometimes very large. They are very skilled at manipulating the rings, changing their size, and sometimes manipulating the shape into a sort of 'infinity symbol' loop type shape.

Here is a shot of one of the younger ones.It really is the most amazing thing to see