Monday March 25th 2024

The wind was howling out of the east today. It was a real hold on to your hat kind of day. There were lots of big clouds in the sky, but the sun managed to shine around them most of the day. The temperature still managed to climb into the low eighties.

Probably because of the wind, the birds were in different locations today. Some of the long necked birds were really leaning into it. The new locations made it easier to take pictures of some of them. The great blue herons were particularly visible today.

My chief accomplishment of the day was restocking the refrigerator. I made a run to Walmart this afternoon. Since I didn’t want to be away from the alligators and birds for long, I chose to go to the nearest Walmart. It is not a purpose built Walmart. The building was something else before it became a Walmart. Consequently, they don’t have the same amount of space and things are organized much differently. The building has far more roof support columns than more modern buildings. It seems like every aisle has a post or two in the middle of the usable space.

Despite the unusual layout I got everything I wanted. The fact that I’ve been there before has a lot to do with my success. The other Walmart stores in the area are fifteen to twenty miles further away. There are a couple of Publix grocery stores nearer, but my purchasing is oriented to Walmart. The prices of the same or similar items at Publix always seems to be more expensive. If I was structuring my purchases around Publix stock, Walmart might seem to be the more expensive option. Next weeks grocery run will probably be to one of the newer Walmarts.

My second and final walk of the day to check on the alligators and birds was just before sunset. Everything was still as expected. Other years, this late hike was often an opportunity to spot other animals. I’ve seen deer, turkeys and wild hogs during my late walk other years. So far this year I haven’t seen anything but birds and gators. I have about ten days to go.