We enjoyed a nice visit with my brother and his family.
L-R: Emmett & Carroll Ward, Anne Ward Buscemi holding new daughter Reese, Dave Buscemi & Jim. Olivia is at school.
One of the main streets in the Winter Springs area is Red Bug Lake Drive. I can't say it without difficulty, so I've translated it to Chigger Lake Drive, much to the disgust of my brother. Jim has a colleague at the Rockbridge Hospice that drives a cute little car, red of course, with the vanity plate of "Chigger," so we had to go by and take pictures.
We found this little park with a lake. There are lots of sports facilities, but we were primarily interested in the local flora and fauna.
While wandering around we saw this family of Sandhill Cranes.
Growing on the verge of the lake is this flower, the bulltongue arrowhead, SAGITTARIA LANCIFOLIA. It is also known as "duck potato" because of the underground stems that resemble potatoes.
Dragonflies were also much in evidence.
Pickerelweed or Pontederia cordata.
Water lilies.
Amidst the plants we saw this American Coot.
A lovely place. I'm happy to say that we did not encounter chiggers.
We next visited a different kind of park to watch little Olivia's tennis lesson. (She is 2nd from left.)
After tennis we all went out to eat at a favorite spot in Ovieto: The Town House. There were a pair of chickens beside the parking lot.
"Urban chickens" are somewhat controversial in Florida, but Ovieto allows them with no restrictions -- even roosters! On past trips we had lodged in an Ovieto B&B and awoke each morning to the dulcet call of a rooster. Not a problem for us.
Our area had a serious dust-up a few years ago over chickens. The final resolution: You can keep chickens in residential areas of Rockbridge County if you have at least two acres, but not in Lexington City regardless of the space. Buena Vista allows chickens as long as they are kept in sanitary pens. We like walking down to our neighbor's whenever we need fresh eggs, but he has to house his hens elsewhere since his lot is less than two acres.
In all it was a happy few days in Winter Springs before we had to leave for The Villages to see Jim's sister and husband Steve.
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