Saturday

This is a monkey puzzle tree, according to John, that we passed on our morning walk. The branches have oddly shaped thorns on them so a monkey (Where are these monkeys?) would have a tough time climbing it. Thus, a monkey puzzler, and later monkey puzzle tree, according to Wikipedia. I had to look it up because John's story seemed ridiculous. It's the national tree of Chili and closely related to ancient trees; hence, it is also known as a fossil tree. The British cultivated them in the 19th century and gave them their popular name. They have an edible nut, similar to a pine nut. The trees are now endangered because of logging, fires, and farming.

It was too cold this morning for anything other than a neighborhood walk. The temperature was in the mid 50s around 9:00 a.m. We walked down to the Pinellas Trail and north on the trail to Stirling Park. We sat on the bench overlooking the trail and watched the bicyclists go by. We wondered if they regretted their choice to ride and/or their choice of bike attire because of the weather. We saw tank tops, flip flops, and shorts. Riding into a 9-10 mph breeze on a bike with temps in the 50s is freezing. I can handle a ride in the low 60s, but I need a wind breaker to do it.

 

I walked out on the bridge in the previous picture to get this shot of the Pinellas Trail crossing Curlew Creek. The bridge used to be part of the the par 3 golf course that has now been converted into a park. 

 

It warmed up to 72 degrees today, but the early morning was cold: 48.

In order to get Toby to take a nap, we put him in his crate late this afternoon and took a walk to the community center. As long as we are in the house moving around, he won't sleep. If we take a nap, he will.

 This white ibis was enjoying our freshly mowed lawn, which means it's time to text Mr. Walker to treat the lawn. Ibis eat grub worms. Grub worms can destroy a lawn. Unfortunately, the ibis can't eat them fast enough before they do their damage.

 

 

We had a salad and our neighbor's red bean soup for dinner.

 

 

Toby takes a nap while we eat. 

Toby got to see Yuki briefly this morning. Toby was standing up, so she hopped on her back legs to give him multiple kisses. So cute.

 

Miles walked: 10.1

Miles biked: 0