Breakfast of Champions

Most of you who know me, know that I joke about my personal "breakfast of champions..." Diet Coke with Splenda

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But after the next few pictures, maybe we could all agree that hummingbirds are champions in their own right and watching them fight for their breakfast offers us a glimpse of something a bit more heroic than my version.

 Here are a couple of crazy facts from birding.about.com...

• The average ruby-throated hummer 3 grams. In comparison, a nickel weighs 4.5 grams.
• A hummingbird’s wings beat between 50 and 200 flaps per second depending on the direction of flight and air conditions.
•  Hummingbirds do not suck nectar through their long bills, they lick it with fringed, forked tongues. (If you look really carefully, you can see one in the top picture, left hummer...cool.)
• A hummingbird must consume approximately 1/2 of its weight in sugar daily, and the average hummingbird feeds 5-8 times per hour.
• Despite their small size, hummingbirds are one of the most aggressive bird species (probably because they have to eat so much...)

Courageous little creatures. I have yet to see on in Palm Beach. Do they migrate through here?

Anyway, enjoy your day in the mountains or by the shore. Eli

Signs You Might Be: On a Mountain

I guess I never realize the variety of road signs and other important informational stuff that one sees along the highways and bi-ways in the mountains and how different it is from what you find along the beach. I mean, it stands to reason, but I found it striking on summer vacay which included a lot of miles back to Colorado and the mountains. I found it interesting. I hope you will too.

A mountain is a big place and when one is riding up the lift or gondola and sliding on the snow, or hiking on a gravel trail, signage is important. Most of the rustic wooden signs are painted and have applied letters, like the one above. It's telling us that Avanti is Expert and Cold Feet is Easy. It sits on the mountain year round. But below, you'll find a corrugated plastic one that just has to make it through a summer or two.

It's hard to imagine that the following pic rests at the top of an expert run. The hill is dotted with tufts of green grass and colorful wild flowers. But when you stand at the top of it looking down in the winter, admiring the bright white slippery snow...it's a bit easier to comprehend.
 
The mountains though massive and courageous, have challenges. Pine beetles, a tiny invader, have become a huge problem for the Colorado mountain forests over the last 5-10 years. The tree below is marked with blue paint to designate it has been invaded. You can also see sap running down the left side and on the upper right, indicating the tree is not well.

It is devastating to see the hillside covered with dead trees as in this image.

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And as we've all seen on the news for many summers, forest fires can decimate the land in a heartbeat. Well, imagine a lightening strike in the above picture...it doesn't take much of a spark.Next time I'll share some of the great beauty held in the mountains...

So, what do you choose? Winter skiing or boarding OR summer hiking or biking? Or I guess, you could choose them all.

Cheers, Eli

Racing the Bridges

When you live on an island, you deal with draw bridges and their openings...

Here in Palm Beach there are three that carry nearly 37,000 people back-and-forth every day:

• The Southern Bridge to the south
• The Royal Park Bridge in the middle
• The Flagler Memorial Bridge to the north.

When we moved here we learned that people call them North Bridge, Middle Bridge and South Bridge. {How civilized.}

When deciding which bridge to use for any given outing, I want to employ my intuition for the drawbridges openings. Each drawbridge has the possibility of opening twice an hour when needed for boats to travel under them. So far, so good, right?

{source} North Bridge

So it makes sense to have the bridges at the top and bottom of the island, open at the top and bottom of the hour, right? Then have the middle bridge, open in the middle of those.

NOT!

The middle bridge opens at the top and bottom of the hour and the North and South bridges open at quarter past and quarter til. ARRRGH! Even after living here nearly 2 years, I still have to look at the time and stop to think which bridge might be opening. Sigh.

{source} Middle Bridge

So what happens if you get "caught" and you are in a hurry? I know, just leave one bridge's line of traffic and "race" to the other? Right?
Ummmm, NO! I doesn't work! (I know. I tried it. More than once...). Here's a tidbit. I recently I found out, the average time for a bridge opening is only 7 minutes.Now, I take deep breath, put the car in park and read something on my Nook, play a game on my phone or clean out the receipts in my purse. Ahhhhhhhh! I realize it may be the only 7 minutes I have to do nothing in a day.

{source} South or Southern Bridge

Another deep breath, look at the palm trees, water and sky and remember how thankful I am to be living here. I might even love those bridges a little bit more.

Want to learn more about the history of Palm Beach bridges? Click here.

Have a fab day. Eli

Life in the Fast Lane...or is that the slow lane?

Driving in Southeast Florida is always a "treat." And by treat I mean something unexpected and fun, right? OK, maybe it is not always a treat. But after living here for nearly 2 years there are some traffic norms I have come to expect, even if I don't love them.

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Slow Lane/Fast Lane
On most Highways, the slower traffic keeps right while speedier drivers enjoy a little freedom with the left hand lanes. Not so in South Florida. There seems to be some code, although I have not quite cracked it yet but everyone knows the fast lane is on the right. Maybe not the far right because that could end up being an exit lane but the next lane is it. So if you want to move it down the highway, don't bother with the far left lane. You'll get stuck behind some grandpa going 55 in the 65 in which most want to go 75...Did I say that out loud?

Pick a Lane
When turning at an intersection on Palm Beach, turning into any lane is quite acceptable. For example, I'm on a four lane road, let's say South Ocean, going south. I'm in the right lane turning right onto Royal Palm Way. It's clear. I turn into the center lane instead of turning into the right lane. What if someone coming north was trying to turn into that lane??? Well, turns out they wait 'cause they know I'm going to just pick any lane I want. CRAZY!!

U-turns are Not a Federal Offense
Florida is a great place for U-turns. Unlike Colorado where U-turns can get you into big trouble. Here, you can make them almost anywhere. I guess if we gave tickets to all the lost folks, we might not have such a great image with the tourists and retired individuals gawking at the ocean and scantily clad beach goers. So while the police ignore it, you MUST watch out while others do it.

Life is distracting to drivers here, I understand.

So, while you are out there on the road, be careful and learn from this Colorado turned Florida girl, u-turns are your friend.

Palm Beach Cheese Puffs

One of the most delicous and delightful tastes I've discovered living in Palm Beach for the past year and a half: The appetizer affectionately known as Palm Beach Cheese Puffs!

Seriously! These little dollar coin-sized toasts topped with a magical mixture of cheese and who knows what else is one of the most delicious things I have ever "appetized." Is that a word? Probably not.

The taste is strong yet smooth, toasty and warm, savory and rich! and as far as I know, you can only get them in the Palm Beaches...so come on down and we'll get some!

Before

After (After that is a plate with crumbs)

Leave it to the Leaves for Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea

It's a vine. It's a climber. It's evergreen in wet climates. It's beautiful but it's barely a flower!

What?

Seriously, one of the most beautiful flora around these parts is all about the leaves or "bracts." Jeepers, who knew?! So what is a Bract?

According to Britannica online a bract is a "small, leaflike structure often positioned beneath a flower or inflorescence. What are often taken to be the petals of flowers are sometimes bracts." The article points to the colorful poinsettia and dogwood as popular culprits.

Here in Florida, it's most notably the Bougainvillea!

The actual flower has a diameter smaller than a dime.

Those of us who grew up elsewhere just thought that the magnificent magenta set against the deep evergreen of the vine was a beautiful flower. Not so! It is simply a cluster of leaves.

So, let's hear it for the leaf. Enjoy!