Know your holidays - Know your Grubers

You're welcome!

Future topics - look for a future controversial Christmas post: 
Is “Yippee Ki-Yay” a proper greeting at Christmas time?

Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives - HD Audio - Kicking off Christmas music season

A well known ear worm.   am now passing it on to you.

Enjoy.  Merry Christmas.

Your vote matters! Fat Bear week 2025 is underway. Do not miss out! Voting opens at 12 PM, Tuesday, 9/23/2025

We have reached that time of the year - FAT BEAR WEEK. This is an environmental education event.  Some of the largest brown bears on Earth make their home at Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska. Brown bears get fat to survive, and Fat Bear Week is an annual tournament celebrating their success in preparation for winter hibernation. 

 An annual favorite - (Information below lifted from https://explore.org/fat-bear-week):

Vote for the fattest bear of the year! Some of the largest brown bears on Earth make their home at Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska. Brown bears get fat to survive and Fat Bear Week is an annual tournament celebrating their success in preparation for winter hibernation. Matchups are open for voting September 23-30 between 12 - 9  p.m. Eastern / 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Pacific.

This is a single elimination tournament. For each match-up, vote for the bear you believe best exemplifies fatness and success in brown bears. The bear with the most votes advances to the next round. Only one will be crowned Fat Bear Week champion. Meet the bears, fill out your bracket, predict your fat bear winner, and campaign for your candidate. 

SDU NOTE: The contest is held by Katmai National Park & Preserve to promote public awareness about the wild brown bears of Alaska. Like scenic drives to see the changing leaves, it’s become a popular fall ritual in the United States and around the world.

The 2025 Fat Bear Week bracket:

CLICK HERE to view this official bracket online.

May the fattest bear win!

Working remote. Hudson River Chestertown NY 8 25 2025

Another beautiful day in the Adirondacks. 

Just for fun - Palmetto Bay Bird Feeder Cam - common grackles - bullies at the feeder cam

Just for fun.  No politics - just watching birds with elbows - looking to dominate at the feeder cam.

Thank you readers! Reader submission provides Palmetto Bay Council portraits. Triggers.

 I know this will egg some on, but I love the response received to the Cardinal photos.

Rubber ducky above, but problems below - proof that the Muscovy Duck has become domesticated here in Palmetto Bay!

This is ducking good! I’m quacking up. My reader warns to watch out for the quacks on the council. 

Please note: NO disrespect intended to the ducks - rubber or Muscovy

Cardinal season - photos of the day

My first time ever being cornered by a female cardinal (or greeted - it is all a matter of perspective). Such an interesting bird. 

I enjoy our Palmetto Bay oasis - we have maintained our entire yard to remain friendly to and actually attract native wildlife.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

  lá sona ú Pádraig

From History dot com:   St. Patrick’s Day

Every year on March 17, the Irish and the Irish-at-heart across the globe observe St. Patrick’s Day. What began as a religious feast day for the patron saint of Ireland has become an international festival celebrating Irish culture with parades, dancing, special foods and a whole lot of green.

Cardinal feeding time at the Palmetto Bay Bird Feeder Cam

Looking forward to a chill weekend - figuratively as well as literally.  

The bushes are full of cardinals who are taking turns feeding at the Palmetto Bay Bird Feeder Cam.  

The real attraction is not the food in the feeder.  We have planted our yard with native plants that provide significant natural food sources and nesting opportunities for our native songbirds. 

Best Christmas Commercials Ever Santa Riding A Norelco Razor

This commercial was once the official signal that the Christmas season had arrived.

This was long before the famous Christmas movie - Die Hard - was released.  The current signal is the fall of Hans Gruber from the Nakatomi Building, but that's another story. 

Breaking post - Now I've seen everything - parrot out for a drive

 I did ask and obtain permission for the photos.  Of all the things to see on my way to a mediation: a parrot riding on the car (tethered).  A beautiful day for a morning drive with the top down. I should have driven the convertible car this morning!

Seen while cycling - Santsimodo?

Alex and I ran across this Christmas display near South Miami City Hall.

Come on, look at it with an eye toward amusement: Santa is not climbing to a chimney, he is climbing a tower (clock tower) that rings bells to mark time.  We have named this display Santismodo after the fictional character in The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo.

Just for fun.  Enjoy.

Thanksgiving Holiday songs - kicking off with "Family" by Dolly Parton (with lyrics)

Three days until Thanksgiving.  

I am posting some Thanksgiving themed music in honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday. Just for fun.

Hershey's Kiss Christmas Commercial HD

An all time Christmas favorite - far a commercials go.  Just posting for fun.  Enjoy.

Chickens - from "free range" to far ranging here in Palmetto Bay.

A little humor today (you just have to laugh) - as the ever increasing population of chickens and roosters have come home to roost here in Palmetto Bay.  A reader sent me this photo on Sunday, 10-13-2024.  

Apparently this lil chicken heard that McDonalds was serving Chicken, but I think she misunderstands the term serving in this particular instance. She'll make that mistake only once.

Loose chickens (or should I refer to them as really free range) are now found often at Coral Reef and Palmetto Bay Parks, surrounding homes and now local businesses.  I am told that you can find them at the bank on the corner of 184 & US1 as well as neighboring Big Lots, but I have not verified.

Yes, that is right, more feral chickens here in Leanne's Palmetto Bay. The population has exploded since Leanne's Chicken Ordinance. This chicken looks like she is ready for the fryer; giving up, fatigued from the false promises of the vice mayor & council. If only it could vote.

Far ranging chickens and roosters - classing up Palmetto Bay.

Prior RELATED POSTS:

October 7, 2024, Update - Roosters taking root in Palmetto Bay

August 14, 2024, Reader submissions - Chickens & Roosters multiplying at Coral Reef Park - non-native species appear to be thriving.

August 1, 2024, Chickens can be raised properly in Palmetto Bay - It was done. That was before Ordinance 2023-12.

July 22, 2024, Coral Reef Park and the Mangowood community have a morning wake up alarm. feral chickens in Leanne's Palmetto Bay. Seen today at McDonalds at 183 St. Looks like she is ready for the fryer; giving up, fatigued from the false promises of the vice mayor & council. If only it could vote

An outstanding idea - an ideal subject for the Nature Postings Photogenic Nature Workshop - Palmetto Bay's free range chickens & roosters

This is why I put things out on the blog.  I get some great responses.  

One reader suggested that readers and "photo contributors" of the blog should enter the Nature Postings Photogenic Nature Workshop - set for Saturday, August 31, 2024

The following info is provided by official Palmetto Bay sources: This workshop provides the perfect setting for amateur photographers, professionals, and families to experience nature behind the lenses of a camera. Open to all skill levels and ages. All participants will be required to bring their own camera or phone. $10 per person. Register here.

Registration remains open - hurry and register - please don't chicken out!

Congratulations to Kirsten Faulkner - Gold Medalist - Women's Road Cycling

Congratulations to Kirsten Faulkner - She only began cycling as a hobby in 2017 - and dominates the Olympic road cycling event in 2024!  Inspiring.

As reported online by NBC News: 

It was the "upset of a lifetime" in women's road cycling as American Kristen Faulkner surged ahead of the pack to secure gold at the end of the race.

Faulkner was not a favorite to win this race but the former rower crossed the finish line almost a full minute ahead of Netherlands' Marianne Vos and Belgium's Lotte Kopecky.

This is the first Olympics for Faulkner, who did not qualify on her own for the race and was added to Team USA at the last minute. She only began cycling as a hobby in 2017, saying it provided an outlet for her venture capitalist job in New York City.

“It was kind of my outlet every day to get into Central Park and ride for two hours away from the bustle of the city,” Faulkner told NBC News last month.

A great story.

A new exercise opportunity for Coral Reef Park - here now : "The ROCKY II Chicken Chase"

For the fitness buffs - Palmetto Bay is supplying the chickens - all you have to do is chase them!

Also see PRIOR RELATED POST - Monday, July 22, 2024, Coral Reef Park and the Mangowood community have a morning wake up alarm.

I'm told that there are many to choose from - see photos posted below - supplied by readers (Please send more)

Also coming soon - reader submitted photos of Roosters who have come home to roost in other areas of Palmetto Bay (please mail photos to me at eugeneflinn@bellsouth.net)

Photos of the day - Wanna buy a courthouse?

Wanna buy a courthouse? Be the first to privatize the Civil court system.  Turnkey ready.  Historic elevator doors.  Mold and prone to basement flooding.

What a way to go – a FOR SALE sign on the steps. Usually other properties are “sold on the courthouse steps.” Appreciate the irony.

This is the current Miami-Dade County Courthouse, formerly known as the Dade County Courthouse.  The building is a historic courthouse and “skyscraper” (for its time) located at 73 West Flagler Street in Miami, Florida. This building was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on January 4, 1989.

It was constructed over four years (1925–28). The building is 361 feet tall with 28 floors (give or take, based upon any undocumented settlement).  This building was once famous for the seasonable buzzards.  The Courthouse was the tallest building in both the city of Miami and state of Florida in its heyday.

A new courthouse is nearly completed nearby. It is time to offload this building.  I’m sure this will be an “as is” sale.

Just for fun - I like to take "Bike Leaning Against --- " photos.  Here are two from a May 2023 ride from home in Palmetto Bay to downtown Miami and back.  A great ride by the way.

National Dog Day - August 26, 2022 - Photos of some of our loyal family members

A furry friend is a life long commitment (for them as well as you). They are not a short term fancy or a photo op. 

Here are some photos of our current family guards - Lil Timmy and Bailey.  Enjoy.