8-26-18 -9-1-18 - (Week 26)

Sunday
Jeff, Dorie, and Pat went with us on the Crane Whisperer's Tour this morning.  We first toured the Ocean Springs Unit. The crane sightings were pretty few and far between.  It probably had something to do with all the laughing and talking we were doing.

We finally found 3 way off in a field.  Then, we found a fledgling and his parents.  The parents were watching us, but did not seem too concerned.  Junior was almost as tall as his parents.  He is about 60 days old.  It won't be long until he's able to fly away with his parents.

We drove through Brown's Trail and Valentine Road.  We did not see the first Mississippi Sandhill Crane.  This was the first time we rode in this area and did not see any.

We dropped Jeff and Dorie off at Camp Refuge.  Pat, Lauren and I continued the tour on Firetower Road where we saw 2 more cranes.

We did not see as many cranes as we usually do.  We did see lots of butterflies, birds, and new blooms, which makes for an enjoyable day.

Monday
It came heavy thunderstorms this morning.  We sat around until after lunch waiting for the weather to clear.

After the rain stopped, we walked the Fountainbleu Trail.  It is a much more woodsy trail than the CL Dees.  We found some new blooms and saw an Osprey.  A stop at Wally World and back to Camp Refuge we went.

We walked the CL Dees Trail late afternoon.  We saw a beautiful Eastern Giant Swallowtail.   The butterflies and bees are sure busy today with all the blooming flowers.

Tuesday
We washed clothes on this rainy morning.  Again, the afternoon cleared, so we went shore bird watching at Ocean Springs and Biloxi.  There were quite a variety of birds to see.

Wednesday
Work day.  The rainy morning had Lauren and I both sitting in the VC.  We had 3 people stop by this morning and no other visitors.  This afternoon, Lauren and Janet went out to the CL Dees Trail for further investigation of a plant that was in dispute on iNaturalist.  The dispute has been solved.

                                                                     White Tassels

Thursday
Another slow day at the VC.  We walked the CL Dees Trail after closing, then sat around camp and bird watched.  We saw our first robin since last spring.  Maybe it's a sign that cooler weather is near.

Friday
Carol and Charley worked with us on this very slow day of visitation.  We closed the book store today so we could reprice everything and start collecting sales tax.  (Sales tax had been included in the price.)  Lauren and I stayed over an hour to get this done.  Afterwards, we headed to Crossroads.  As usual, Ferny Kat was ready for a road trip.

Saturday
Anita and Lucy came over to spend the night.  Lucy has such a great personality.  Ferny Kat on the other hand, was her usual personality.  She has no desire to be any where around Lucy.

We took a drive to Poplarville and checked out the new Ramey's and purchased a few groceries.  Lauren took the back roads home and stopped and took pictures of flowers and butterflies alongside the road.

We put up bird feeders at home, in the hopes of attracting more birds.  The only thing it attracted today was Lucy.

The rest of the pictures:

8-19-18 - 8-25-18 - (Week 25)

Sunday
Jeff joined us for our early morning Crane Whisperer Tour.  We saw 7 Ms. Sandhill Cranes and a least a dozen deer.  The few cranes we saw today were more photogenic than usual.

On our way out of Brown's Trail, we found newly emerged Black Swallowtail Butterflies.  Last week we saw the caterpillar and chrysalis  It is pretty neat to see their life cycle in their natural elements.

This afternoon, we took a ride to Gulfport for a quick stop at Sam's.  With the rainy weather, we did not take the camera or binoculars.  We wish we would have on the ride back on Highway 90.  There were plenty of shore birds enjoying the low tide and very few people.

Monday
We hung around Camp Refuge on this rainy day.  We got our clothes washed and I got my walk in.  Even though I was soaked when I got finished.  I love walking in a light rain in the summer time.

Tuesday
We washed the camper and the motorcycle today.  We are hoping that fall weather will be here soon so we can take Amber out for a spin.

Wednesday
A very quiet day at the VC.  Lauren went off site and cut grass.  We observed an Osprey with his afternoon snack in the savanna right before closing. He was sitting on a limb of a dead tree eating a good size fish.

Thursday
I only had 2 really great visitors walk in the VC today.  After 4 pm there were 6 people walking the trail. More people came after we were closed than when we were open.

Friday
Business picked up a little today, we had 12 people visit.  Lauren spent the day mowing at headquarters.

Saturday
Judy and Terry came for a visit before closing.  We continued our visit at Camp Refuge after we got off.  Needless to say, we had a great time.

There are not many pictures for this week due to a malfunction of Lauren's lap top.   The only pictures we have are a few that Lauren had on his phone and Facebook post, and a few I took with our old Nikon.

Here they are:

8-12-18 - 8-18-18 (Week 24)

Sunday
We do not go back to work at the VC until Friday.  We are slowly getting to feel like our old selves and decided to go back to Camp Refuge.  After all, Ferny Kat was bored staying in Crossroads for over a week and was ready to ride.

We took the much needed Crane Whisperer Tour in the heat of the afternoon.  All 7 of the Ms. Sandhill Cranes we saw were flying long before we got near them.  We took our time and took lots of pictures, (with the camera card in place), of lots of birds and all kinds of new blooms.  We also found the Black Swallowtail caterpillar eating on a water cowbane plant.  We will keep an eye out for the butterfly emerging.

It rained at Camp Refuge while we were gone, which cooled things off considerably.  We sat outside past dark enjoying the critters and the lower temperatures.  Nice temperatures like this in August, are a rarity.

Monday
We haven't walked the  CL Dees Trail for about a week and a half until today.  We saw plenty of butterflies and dragonflies that were enjoying the fresh new blooms.  We will go back tomorrow and rearrange plant signs.  Today was all about enjoying the trail.

I decided today was the day, I start exercising more than my brain.  I did some strength training and went for a walk on Crane Lane.  Lauren joined me on my walk, after about 15 minutes, (and after much coaching from me).  As he stopped to take pictures, I would walk circles until he got the shot he wanted.

On our way back, 2 Mississippi Sandhill Cranes, started calling and flew from the savanna.  They were about a couple hundred yards from us. Having a crane sighting while exercising is one of the perks of this gig.  Plus,an inspiration to get our walk in.

Tuesday
We spent this hot day hanging at Camp Refuge.  We rearranged the plant signs on the CL Dees Trail.  I have to say, it looks pretty good.

We attempted to get our walk in late afternoon but changed our minds when an officer advised us of a man hunt in the area, back to Camp Refuge we went.

Wednesday
We did a leisurely walk along the CL Dees Trail this morning.  We spent the afternoon riding to Biloxi, Ocean Springs, and St Andrews.  We made several stops to hike and bird watch.  One of our stops was Quakes.  We had heard their ice cream was really good and it was.

A quick stop for bargains at Belk, (quick is not the word Lauren uses for it),  and we made our way back.  We sat outside past dark enjoying Camp Refuge.

Thursday
It was thundering when I got up at 8 this morning.  The rumbling continued for most of the morning but no rain.

We checked out the photography exhibit at Pascagoula River Audubon Center this afternoon.  There were some really neat photos.  Maybe next year, Lauren will enter some of his.

Friday
Lauren must be ready to go back to work.  He got up before 6 am.  I on the other hand, slept until he woke me up at 7:30.

Lauren went off site to mow.  I manned the VC. It was another slow day of visitation.  Thank goodness that one person decided to stop by.

Saturday
A rainy day in South Mississippi.  Lauren and I had a very quiet day at the VC. We had a big increase of visitation as compared to yesterday.  A whopping 11 people. 

Week of pictures:

8-5-18- 8-11-18 (What were we thinking? / aka Week 23)

Sunday
Lauren lived through the golf tournament.  He and Terry didn't win, but they had a good time.  It is always great to spend time with Judy and Terry.

On our way home, we made a stop at Lynn's for Lieutenant Colonel Heath's celebration party.  A well deserved celebration for his return from his tour of duty and his promotion.  Thank you Heath for your service!!

Monday
Melissa approached us about a month ago and inquired if we would like to take the Certified Interpretive Guide training at Crosby Arboretum in Picayune, Ms.  This is only about a 30 minute drive from home.  We will get training that could make us better at what we do, a no brainer.  Yes we would love to go to this 4 day, 9 hours a day class, homework every day, everybody in the class has been doing these kind of things for years.  Again what were we thinking.

We were thinking, it will make us better at talking with the public, in a way that will be productive for everyone.  We weren't thinking, (obviously), that we are out of our league.

Our first day was today.  I have spent the last few weeks researching how to be successful at this.  Lauren on the other hand, has not gave it a thought until today.   I have to write, Lauren was as much prepared for this as I was.  We are brain dead.

We are in a class, with all these people that have been giving presentations for years.  Again, we are out of our league.

On a positive note, Philip Smartt, our instructor told us only one person has failed the presentation part of the class.  He needs to step up the game, unless he wants number 2 and 3 to talk about during his next class.

Tuesday
I thought I would be the one.  The one who would be so anal, I've got to do this.  Lauren and I went to bed late last night.  We tossed and turned.  And then, the clock alarmed.  We are retired, we are suppose to ease into the day, we are too old for this, but we got our old butts out of bed and returned.

Professor Smartt talked to a few of us early arrivers, about the second day being easier.  Lauren had a lot of words regarding the second day. Easier was not one of them.  I have to agree, the second day was a lot harder than the first.  At least yesterday, we had hope!!

Professor Smart, (and yes, that is his last name), stepped outside so we, or actually, Lauren could vent, (or as I call it, have a meltdown).   We realized that everyone in the room was pulling for us to succeed.  Hopefully we will meet their expectations!

And  no, we are not doing homework tonight.  Maybe we are too overwhelmed. or maybe we are being defiant!  Gotta set the theme of things.

Wednesday
I got out of bed around 3 am and worked on my homework and researched some of the history of the refuge .  I went back to bed after about an hour.  It was another sleepless night, We both tossed and turned all night long.

Today, we finally worked on our outlines for our presentations.  With a lot of help from Professor Smartt, we got this done.  We now know what we are going to talk about.  That kinda helps until we think about talking for 10 minutes. The presentation has to be at least 8 minutes and no more than 12 minutes.

After we got home, Lauren went out to the shop and  I went out in the garage to rehearse.  Dr Smartt told us he does not want us to use notes, so keeping this organized is extremely difficult. Every time I practice my speech, I say something different.

Luckily, Dr. Smartt said he doesn't grade us on perfection, he grades us on potential.

Thursday
We both have mixed emotions about today.  We are glad it is finally here so we can get this over with.  On the other hand, we are very anxious.  Right before we left home, we practiced in the den using the ironing board for a podium.  Ironing will never be the same.

We had 15 people in our class and it was obvious, the ones that had done this before.  I was the 13th person and Lauren was the 14th person to give presentations.  We both passed and got "Great Job" wrote on our evaluations.  Whew!!!!

I was surprised and relieved when the time keeper held up the sign for 8 minutes.  Lauren said the relief was obvious in my expression.  I am very surprised that the time went so fast and I am more surprised that I actually enjoyed this.

A stop at Wally World for the Nattys, and a stop at Fortenberry's for a steak and the celebration begins!!!!

Friday
As we reflect on the past few days, we have to say it was a fantastic week.  We made a lot of new friends and learned a ton, the exact opposite of our feelings at the beginning of the week.

Lauren spent this morning getting the yard mowed.  I spent the morning cleaning house.  We are still tired, but are finally getting back to our old selves.

Saturday
We packed our lunch and headed to Picayune to get some much needed nature therapy.  Our first stop was Crosby Arboretum.  We leisurely took our time, looking at the plants, wildflowers, butterflies, dragonflies, etc.  It was a much more relaxing experience than the previous days that we were here.

We stopped for a picnic lunch after walking about half of the trails.  The chicken salad I made this morning had quite a different taste.  I put dill pickle relish instead of sweet pickle relish in it.  It was quite different, but edible.

We continued on with the rest of our walk then headed to Bogue Chitto National Wildlife area.  We saw 3 gators, an anhinga trying to get plastic off his beak, plenty of egrets, and some blue herons.

This is not the place for arachnophobia's to visit.  There were hundreds of golden silk spiders hanging between the branches on the trail.

We walked about 6 miles today.  Lauren took his time really focusing on his pictures and thought he had some really great shots.  When we got home, none of the pictures were on the camera.  The card had been left in his computer.

It was a disappointing lesson learned, but nothing that a good dose of nature therapy can't cure.

7-29-18 - 8-4-18 (Week 22)

Sunday
Mother Nature was very kind today.  She allowed Lauren to get the yard mowed before the rain started in the afternoon.

Monday
We had a couple of surprises to wake up to this morning.  An unwanted visitor in the garage around 4 am caught on our security cameras.  He opened the door to my jeep and was looking around when the camera got his first pic.  He ran, as Jeannie would say, "like a thief that stole something."  Luckily,  he got spooked before he stole anything.

The second surprise was a cute, sweet, little brown dog running down the stairs when I opened the door after watching the video to see if my jeep was still in the garage.  She has an amazing personality.  Unfortunately, we can't keep her because Ferny Kat does not want a sibling.  And everyone knows, Ferny Kat rules the roost.

Being we were in the surprised mood, Anita surprised us with a visit.  We reciprocated with her a belated birthday cobbler and a gift.  And as a bonus surprise, (not really), Anita and the cute, sweet, brown dog, fell in love with each other.  She now has a new home.

Tuesday
We made it back to Camp Refuge.  Pat wasn't feeling good, so we relieved her around lunch time.  Pat had 3 people today before we arrived, we had 3 more people that arrived after 2 pm. 

One of them was from the Santa Ynez Band of the Chumash Indian tribe.  He was so excited to stop by the refuge because he did Crane dances where he resides in California.  He did a short performance for me in the VC.  Another perk of volunteering!

Lauren missed out, he was mowing the grass.

Wednesday
Jeff and his wife, Dorie, arrived to Camp Refuge.  Jeff will be one of our co-volunteers at the Refuge.
As usual, it was another slow day at the VC.

Thursday
We finished this short week with another slow day of visitations.  Lauren and Jeff meandered around outside of headquarters doing maintenance stuff.  I was overly excited when the first visitors of the day walked in at 12 pm.  The family of 5 were a lot of fun to talk to.  One of the daughters left a unique donation, a dollar bill crane origami.  It don't take much to entertain me.

Thursday we went to Crossroads for a while.  We have school next week and don't go back to work for a couple of weeks.

Friday
We are spending the weekend with Judy and Terry.  It's been a long time since we stayed with them.  Lauren and Terry are playing in the member guest at Windance.

We went to happy hour and listened to Double Dee at Windance.  A very entertaining evening spent with our long time friends.  It's like the good ole days.

Saturday
Lauren and Terry played 27 holes of golf today.  A lot of golf for Lauren in a day, considering he has only played once this year.  Lauren and Terry had a good time, even though they only won one match.


Pics are here:

7-22-18 - 7-28-18 - (Week 21)

Sunday
This morning, we got our CL Dees Trail walk in while waiting on Jerri and Rick's arrival.  They came to stay for a couple of nights with us on their way to Gulf Shores.

We took them on the Crane Whisperer Tour after lunch.  We were surprised to have 11 sightings on this hot afternoon.  Almost every Mississippi Sandhill Crane we saw, flew off before we could see them good. Until the last 4 sightings.  We finally were able to watch these walk away, instead of flying away.  It is always fun to watch these magnificent birds.

We have to say, we enjoyed entertaining our friends on the Crane Whisperer Tour!!

Monday
Jerri, Rick, Lauren, and I met Judy and Terry for lunch at Gollott's Fresh Catch Seafood.  A less humid day with a nice breeze was the perfect setting for our outside dining overlooking the boat slips and back bay. The food was good, but the company was better.

                                                                   Lunch views

Lauren, Rick, Jerri, and I made a quick stop at Island View to play our free play.  We left as poor as we arrived.

A couple of beach pullovers to look around and back to Camp Refuge we went.

Tuesday
Jerri and Rick left after breakfast to spend the rest of their vacation in Gulf Shores.  They were going to check out our Visitors Center, but with a nice breeze, and less humid morning, they changed their minds.  It was too pretty to waste time inside today, especially when you are heading to the beach.

We sure are glad they decided to take a couple of days of their vacation to spend with us.  As always, we had a blast.

This afternoon, we decided to check out Popp's Ferry Causeway Park in Biloxi.  We saw a few birds and a few new species of plants.  A quick stop on the beach in Biloxi and we headed back to Camp Refuge.

As we watched the birds feast on  their feed, we heard a pretty song orchestrated by the Eastern Towhee.  He has good looks and talent too!

Needless to say, I went to bed before dark tonight.

Wednesday
Lauren played golf at Windance today with Terry and the old gang he use to hang with.  I walked the CL Dees Trail, rearranged a few plant markers, and washed our clothes.  I sat outside all day enjoying this less humid day.  I could get use to this weather.

Thursday
We had the pleasure of working with Carol and Charley today.  It was another slow day at the VC.

Friday
I worked the VC, or rather hardly worked, while Lauren mowed grass.  It was after 1 pm before the first visitors walked in.  Lauren and I sat around late afternoon and watched the critters at Camp Refuge.

Saturday
We had the pleasure of working with Pat today.  Pat and I were so excited when we finally got our first visitors after 11 am.  It doesn't take much to amuse us!!

Lauren rode around behind the locked gates trimming limbs.  At least that is what he said he was doing.  I'm pretty sure he was also looking for a couple of Colts that are in Ocean Springs.  He didn't find them, but he did see 7 Cranes.  Not a bad day of work for him.

We went to Crossroads after work to spend a few days and cut grass.  We had a pretty good rain about dark this afternoon.  We sure hope Mother Nature doesn't change our plans.

The week of pics:

7-15-18 to 7-21-18 (Week 20)

Sunday
As much as I wanted to sleep in today, I wanted more to go behind the locked gates of the Refuge.  It was well worth my early wake up call.

We saw a lot of new and old species of birds and plants.  One of the new wildflower blooms we found on the Refuge today was Orange-Fringed Orchids.  One of the new species of birds we saw today on the Refuge was an Anhinga.  We took pictures of the Anhinga while he was chattering away.

We only had 9 Mississippi Sandhill Crane sightings.  Two of them, we saw as soon as we entered Brown's Trail.

We always spook the Cranes that are near the pen on Brown's Trail.  We decided to park and walk and see if we could sneak up on them.  We had only taken a few steps when 3 of them flew off.  We just can't outsmart them.

Lauren has a keen eye for wildlife.  His prize pic of the day, is a Bull Frog in the water on Valentine Trail.

We thought we weren't going to see any Deer or Great Blue Herons until we saw a nice size Buck and a Great Blue Heron on our way out of Firetower Trail.

This afternoon, we took a ride to the check out the campgrounds near by for Dave and June.  We found some new species of birds that we hadn't seen before during this short ride, the Boat-Tailed Grackle and White Ibis.  We also found a unique campground, Sioux Bayou.  It has a bar with a deck overlooking the water that had quite a few patrons for a Sunday afternoon.

Monday
Dave and June came to visit us at Camp Refuge for a few days.  Lauren has known Dave about a year longer than he has known me.

We spent the afternoon into the night catching up.  It takes a while when it's been over 4 years since our last get together. It's probably a good thing, considering how much fun we have.

Tuesday
We took Dave and June to Pascagoula to see Ingall's Shipyard then to Huck's Cove.  This is the first time Lauren and I have been to Huck's Cove and were able to sit on the deck because it is always raining when we are there.  We just did make it, the rain started about the time we left.

We rode in the flooding rain to see the Osprey and her twins at the Biloxi Bay Bridge then continued on to The Blind Tiger for an adult beverage.

Team Bud evolved from The Blind Tiger with our plastic emblems on our shirt and  plastic tattoos that we pealed off our long necks beer bottles.

We stopped at The Shed, to get fed.  The cashier laughed and said she didn't have to ask what Dave and I wanted to drink.  Yes, we still had our stickers on.  The food and atmosphere was as good as usual.

Wednesday
Day 3 of the Shuler visit.  We took a long, leisurely walk on the CL Dees Trail this morning.  We must have spent a couple of hours out there.  June seems to enjoy taking pictures of the plants as much as we do.   We didn't see very many birds but saw plenty of wildflowers.

After lunch, we took them on the Crane Whisperer Tour.  We didn't think we would see very many Cranes due to the rain and the late afternoon timing.  We thought wrong.  The rain literally had them moving.  As we were watching the first cranes, we saw them jump when it lightning and thundered.  We had 14 Mississippi Sandhill Cranes sightings on this 3 hour tour.  Not bad considering the flooding rain we were riding around in.

Thursday
Life got back to normal today.  Dave and June started their trek back to Kentucky and we went back to work.  It was a slow but enjoyable day back at the VC.  After work, Lauren put a new motor on the main a/c in our camper that went out last week.  Luckily we have 2 a/c's and were not inconvenienced, except for Ferny Kat.  She usually sleeps in the bedroom during the day where is warmer than the rest of the camper.  Leaving the bedroom a/c blowing all the time was way to cold for her.

There is a beautiful sunset in the Savanna tonight as I type.  This will be the back drop in my mind as I drift off to sleep tonight, which will be early tonight.

Friday
I slept a little later this morning than I usually do.  After Lauren woke me up, I was slow to get out of bed.  Ferny Kat sat by the bed meowing until I got up, then bit my ankles to hurry me up to feed her.  That dang cat!

My slowness this morning continued on at the VC.  We had  9 visitors today.  I'll be glad when the attendance improves.

Saturday
The pace picked up a little bit today, we had 22 visitors.  The ones that came by seemed to be really into conservation.

More pictures are right here: