Winter in Florida

This month has not been as friendly to snowbirds as normal. By Maine standards, it is warm, but by Florida standards it has been cold. We have had to turn on the heat as the nights fall into the 30s and the days linger in the 50s. The weather forecast is for another week of it to come. We have adjusted into wearing our winter clothes and doing mostly inside activities.

The cold nights have caused the manatees to seek refuge in warmer places. This little area has warm water from the power company raising the temperature. On Tuesday we stopped by and saw dozens of the manatees hunkered down in this little canal.
We also saw an Atlas rocket launch this week. We were not able to get a picture of it, but we had a great view from the nearby beach. However, that evening was mighty chilly with the wind coming on over the water.

To bring a bit of cheer we stopped at Lowe's and bought a petunia plant yesterday to put on the balcony. We may have to bring it in at night, but it is wonderful to see live flowers!

Gary has not done much painting yet, but here he is working on the balcony yesterday. He has two paintings underway and is working at the Brigantine Gallery twice a week.

This is one of the ships he is working on. He really doesn't have a place to lay out his stuff and paint here, so we are trying to solve that problem.

Florida Winter Moves Along

Friday was Gary's birthday. Louise finished knitting a sweater for him that was started in 2006. That's a long time in the needles, but a great finished product. The weather here will probably not give him an opportunity to wear it, but it will make a good spring sweater at home. This is sweater #1 of a new challenge to knit 14 in 2014.

Here is Gary in his new sweater.

Today we visited the beach again, but it was a bit chilly and windy today. Louise got a walk on the beach, but we didn't stay very long.

The gulls were plentiful today. Here you see a man feeding them.

The water was not as rough today and there were no surfers in it, or anyone else for that matter!

The temperatures and humidity vary greatly from day to day, but life is good here.

Sebastian Inlet

Today we drove south to Sebastian Inlet State Park to enjoy a perfect afternoon in the sun. The weathermen predict a cold week ahead, but today was beautiful.

Here you see there were lots of people at the beach, and even some kids playing in the waves.

The surf was pretty active today. There were a lot of surfers out in the water. Most of the surfers had on wet suits, so we expect it wasn't very warm.

Here we see Gary getting a few rays of sunshine.

What a beautiful day in Florida. This is what it's all about and why so many people  come here in the winter.