Forgotten Dreams and Everyday Wonders

I continue to go through photos from the last 9 months or so, playing catchup on the blog.  This post features the last shots of 2017.  In 2016, Norwegian Cruise Lines opened their new dock and exclusive facilities about 8 miles to our north onHarvest Cay.  The route the cruise ships take to Harvest Cay passes directly in front of our property, about 8-10 miles off shore.  During the high activity of the winter cruise season, we see one ship a day come in from the south at sunrise and depart back to the south at sunset.  Every now and again there are two ships in one day.  The ships never stay overnight in Belize waters.  In the slower summer season, we see one or two ships a week.

Norwegian Cruise Lines ship headed to Harvest Cay.

We have been worried about the impact of the cruise ships on this part of Belize; so far the impact has been fairly minimal.  But Belize conservationists, including us, are totally pissed off that the Belize Government granted NCL an exemption to have an endangered scarlet macaw in a cage at the facility to "greet" cruise ship passengers.  Not a good example of protecting the wildlife that is a major draw for tourists in Belize.  It is likely that money changed hands on that exemption.

Time does march on in Belize, although it seems to be slower here than more developed places.

The footpath that goes past the site of the former resort called "Bob's Paradise".  This is a section of the path I run almost every day.

All that's left of Bob's Paradise are stumps of dock posts and some of the concrete columns that supported the restaurant.  Dennis and I never had the pleasure of staying at Bob's.  It was booked solid in 1999 the first time we came to southern Belize, although we did boat past it.  It was in it's heyday then.  And then in 2001, it was pretty much wiped off the map by Hurricane Iris and was never rebuilt.

The remains of the dock posts at Bob's Paradise.  That is Great Monkey Cay in the distance.

On the same stretch of beach is another abandoned resort.  It is still standing, but gradually being reclaimed by the jungle and the weather.  This place was built after Hurricane Iris.

Lush vegetation.

Again, the docks are what go the quickest without constant maintenance.  A big earthquake in 2007 with an epicenter only 50 miles away caused the dock posts to subside deeper into the ground.  That happened to our dock, although not quite as much as this one.

There used to be a nice palapa at the end of the dock; a perfect place for relaxing with drinks and casting a lazy line in the water for fish.  Little Monkey Cay is in the distance.

The dock being slowly reclaimed by the sea.  Forgotten dreams.

The footpath connecting the properties of Englishtown is not very long, only about 1.4 miles including three small side spurs.  Short though it is, there are always everyday wonders to see along the way.  Like these false parasol mushrooms, Chlrorophyllum molybdites.

I see these mushrooms several time a year in this same spot not too far from the Phallus sp. in the last post.

They start off looking like flocked eggs on a stalk, just like the prized true parasol mushrooms, Lepiota spp.  The true parasol mushrooms are frequently collected edible mushrooms.

Just popping up from the soil.

Then they open to form the parasol shape that gives them their common name. BUT - they are false parasols, and as indicated by their other name of vomiter, should not be eaten.  They aren't deadly, just make you wish were dead.

Tempting, but best not eaten.

The key characteristic that gives away its true identity is the pale green color of the gills that with time turns a dark mossy green and leaves behind a green spore print - the color of chlorophyl, hence its scientific name.

Gills are just beginning to show green.  I forgot to get a shot of it after it turned a darker green.

I was disappointed that these weren't edible.  Some people cook them well and drain all the liquid before eating them with no problem, but I don't feel like risking it.

Barnie loves to be with me anytime I am outside.  This slightly blurry shot shows how big and muscular she is.

One muddy back leg from stepping into swamp water.  Look at the muscles on that girl!

We both get pretty hot on our walks, so the return trip is often wading in the sea if the sea is calm.

Barnie, leading the way.

Barnie loves to chase fish and stingrays through the water.  Not that she has ever actually caught anything.

The water is good way to escape the biting flies, too.

We see fish, stingrays, eagle rays, starfish, brittle stars, whelk, conch, and jellyfish in the shallow water in front of our place.

Here, a little fish found shelter inside the bell of a jellyfish.

No shortage of insects either.

Dragonfly.

Just look at those big eyes.

Back at home, one of the plants that we keep to attract hummingbirds is this Mother-of-Thousands plant.  It is often classified in the genus Kalanchoe, but sometimes in the genus Bryophyllum. Like the familiar kalanchoe plants, it makes small plantlets at notches along the leaf margins and each plantlet is capable of growing into another plant if it lands in the right place.  Hummingbirds feed at the flowers, which are quite long-lasting.

Mother-of-Thousands.

Slowly, but steadily catching up to current happenings.  Next time I will include more of the holiday with my family.  And soon a post featuring Clove.

Three and One Half Weeks

Time is moving right along, as it does.  Our weather has been quite nice, allowing us to do some outside clean up in relative comfort.  I say “us”, but really it has been Dennis who has cut up the fallen tree and moved the wood into the woods to rot, drained the garden hoses and put them away, etc.  I managed to bring a little pottery birdbath inside to clean up and put away.  My big accomplishment has been to sort all my clothes into 4 categories:  clothes that I need for work until December 12 and that I will need again in March when I return to Minnesota, clothes that go to Belize with me for immediate use, clothes that will be shipped later, and clothes that will go to Salvation Army.

I have also been working on selling some of our furniture.  It just doesn’t make sense to take it all to Belize with us.  We will have a much simpler lifestyle there that won’t require as much “stuff” as we have here.  What a relief that will be.

We will celebrate our last Thanksgiving in the U.S. this coming week.   Part of the day will likely be spent at the storage unit where we have the boxes stored that we will ship to Belize early next year.  We need to squeeze a few more things in order to make room at our house for the house sitters.  And we also need to pull out the things that we will ship down right away.  We are hoping that the shipping company that is handling the car will let us pack the car full of boxes.  But back to Thanksgiving – we will have a non-traditional dinner of scallops and fish with cranberry/orange sauce, Brussels sprouts, salad, and cheese blintzes with ginger syrup for dessert.  A nice sparkling almond-flavored wine will accompany the dessert.

So what is worth all this effort, anxiety, and turmoil?  Is it the fresh fruit we can grow? 

Fresh guava from our own tree.  It makes an incredibly refreshing drink when macerated and mixed with fresh, sweetened lime juice (also from own tree).

Is it the wildlife (including fabulous insects) that also make their home in Belize?

Lovely red dragonfly.  I haven't keyed it out yet; that is part of the satisfaction I am looking forward to. 

Is it the back-to basics cabana and associated lifestyle?

This what our cabana looked like in 2008.  Since then Richard enclosed the part below with a cane screen to hide the black water vats and poured the concrete slabs.  The coconut trees are now taller than the cabana. 

Is it the tranquility?

This is my favorite sight in all the world - coming home to our beachfront cabana where life is sweet and simple.

Is it the snorkeling off our front veranda?

Our veranda that overlooks the ocean.  I keep my snorkel gear (in the blue and yellow bag hanging on the wall) handy so I can snorkel at  moment's notice right off our dock.  Or what about relaxing in the hammocks?  Maybe a cold coke will hit the spot while keying out the fish that I spotted while in the water will do the trick. 

Or is it sharing all this with all the other oddballs who found their true home in Belize?

Dennis with Sam, Martha, Chris, and Sue.  We know why we are here in Belize.

It is all of those things and more.  Come visit Belize and see for yourself.

Minnesota Winter Dawn

This winter season here in southern Minnesota has been unusually warm, punctuated by only a couple of super cold spells and not very much snow.  We figure nature is trying to make up for last year's brutal winter.  Today is the last day of a short cold snap that started Friday.  This morning the temp was 6F (-14C) at 7:00am.  It has warmed up to 13F (-11C); we'll make up to the 20s before the day is done.  Oddly, we have very little snow on the ground because most of what we did have melted during the warm weather at the beginning of February.  Below are some views of a beautiful dawn from the front of our house taken Jan. 31 when there was still snow on the ground.






As lovely as that dawn was, this dragonfly is what we would prefer to see when look out the front door.

Dragonfly on dead hibiscus stem, South Englishtown, Toledo District, Belize.

We are now one step closer to that reality; Dennis has officially declared his date of retirement - November 30, 2012.  I added a retirement countdown widget to the blog.  As of today, he has 291 days to go ...

Libellula pulchella - Twelve-spotted Skimmer

I took these photos on July 31.  This dragonfly was in the garden and let me get pretty close to it with my camera.

It is a Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Libellula pulchella. 

The 12 spots are the dark spots of which there are 3 per wing. Both males and females have the 12 spots.  

Only the adult males have the powder blue spots on their wings and the bluish coating on their abdomens.

It is holding onto a Liatris flower stalk  (blazing star).

I think it is just soaking up the sun, giving me a nice photo op!

All the descriptions of this dragon refer to the white patches on the wings.  They sure look blue to me, even in the photos  where they are referred to as white.

I have seen several females during the summer, but they were never still enough to  photograph.

Beautiful thing to behold, unless you are its dinner target.