Brass Bowl

I was strolling along Riverwalk by the Convention Center, and noticed a colony (?) of Brown Pelicans either in flight or sunning themselves on the detached boat slips.  The light was completely wrong with the sun shining almost directly into the lens.  I tried many different combinations, and took over thirty shots, and these are the best three.  Click on the last one to see a 1200 x 900 picture of the pair.

The Brown Pelican is the only pelican to dive for its food.  While it is draining the water out of its large extendable bill, seagulls often try to steal the fish inside.

Tampa and Brown Pelicans have a significant history together.  It was here that UT researchers discovered the adverse affects of DDT on the egg shells, which led to the ban of DDT nationwide.  The Brown Pelican is protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which makes it unlawful to pursue, hunt, take, capture, kill or sell Brown Pelicans. The statute does not discriminate between live or dead birds and also grants full protection to any bird parts including feathers, eggs and nests.

Established in 1850, Oaklawn Cemetery is one of the oldest final resting places for Tampa residents.

A search engine search of the internet gives a plethora of information on this historical cemetery.  Here are a few local links to whet your appetite:

City of Tampa Parks Department

City of Tampa Self Guided Tour (PDF file)

St. Pete Times article from 2004 (kind of gothy)

Do a search yourself, and read about names that you use everyday.  Those names are from real people, who lived and died here in Tampa.  It’s all about the history.  Can you dig it?

Yeah, I overdid it just a little on Thanksgiving.  So on Saturday, Spousal Unit and I loaded up the bikes and hit the Van Fleet Trail.  We started at Green Pond, and sure enough, Green Pond Tom was there.  He was cosy’d up with some other riders, soaking up the attention and the scraps.  We also got a better look at the fawn we spotted fleetingly last time.  Mom was evidently in the brush watching.  We kept our distance and used the zoom.  You can see the spots on the back of the little fella (or gal).

We waited a few moments and he loped back into the brush.  The rest of the ride was kind of anticlimatic, but the trees are starting to turn and it was a nice day to be on the trail.

Hillsborough County has put the tree up in Courthouse Square, and is busy decorating it.  On December 4, starting at 5:00pm, there will be a free Holiday Festival, brought to you by the Hillsborough County Commissioners and the Friends of the County Parks.  Here is a link to the official new release. Free soda’s, hot dogs, cotton candy and popcorn.  And REAL SNOW!!!  The fun runs until 9:00pm.

From everyone at the Brass Bowl, we wish everyone a happy and safe Thanksgiving.  Here is one of the foods that to me will always be synonymous with Thanksgiving:  Green Bean Casserole.