Lizards falling from Trees

David did warn me. When the temperature drops enough, the cold blooded lizards, like the adorable little geckos, cool down, and can fall off their perches.

Like we can tell the outside temperature from watching how fast Achmed returns through the cat flap, down here, you can tell by the raining lizards. Time to don another layer.

Which is to say it's dang chilly here. With a severe freeze warning for tonight. And enough wind that an unsuspecting sandpiper on the beach got bowled over in front of me. The seagull hunkered down, despite wind ruffled feathers. The pelicans headed to the Bay side, where the wind was less.

And the only dolphins to be seen were the ones at the Mote Aquarium. A great place in any weather.

Bad weather always looks worse through a window, and walking the beach, watching the huge surf come roaring in, was fabulous. Provided one had no ambitions to lie in the sun, it was a great day. What do the 'locals' do in this weather? Evidently, they head to the malls. I followed suit late in the afternoon, and I have this to say about that... Never have I seen more useless STUFF anywhere. What is with this shopping frenzy for stuff that just takes up space?

We're told, down here in the citrus groves, that on Black Friday, the use of credit cards was down dramatically. Only 17% of sales went on credit. Reasons? Well, some folks are using cash to stay inside a budget. For others, however, it's less voluntary... they just don't have the credit.

I had a visit from an egret yesterday. He came for lunch, and hung about for a long time while I sat outside reading. At one point, I was reading aloud to him. He seemed to like it. Harold, who owns this place, warned me to watch my food... this bird has been known to score a hotdog from the BBQ. So, for those who think living on credit is a dangerous game, they should watch this bird. Stealing hotdogs sounds like a really risky business for an egret...