A sea cow has lunch in our lagoon

We had just picked up a small, 10ft jon boat to easily explore the creek. The second we put it in the water, I looked around and saw this huge brown mass moving around the lagoon but for some reason I just thought it was a reflection of the mangroves on the water. Anyway, as soon as we pushed off this huge swirl occurred right next to the boat and I just about walked on water to get back to shore. It wasn't until after my initial alligator paranoia retreated (there's a very small chance they'd enjoy the creek's brackish water) that we realized it was a manatee. We walked around and watched him as he ate. We hope he comes back again. Manatees have a tough time in FL. If it isn't the boat motors injuring and killing them, apparently red tide toxins remaining in the water also kill them. "Red tide is such a unique threat to the approximately 1,000 manatees in Southwest Florida that a state report last year predicted their numbers would drop 80 percent in three generations. The same report recommended reclassifying the manatee from endangered to threatened, because they are faring better in other parts of the state where red tide is rare." Read the article at the link.

Fire Ants Underground

Photo: Charles Badland

When I first started this blog, life seemed much simpler. I was writing about banyan trees and fire ants and not yet hit with the harsh realities of building of house. From Cabinet Magazine, I came across an old friend of the fire ants, Walter Tschinkel, the Florida State University entomology professor that I first wrote about here. At the time, the interest was in how to beware of these powerful and painful fire ants. I had since fallen prey to them at least 3 times but it hasn't been in a long time and I now have an internal sensory mechanism built up to avoid them. Sculptures done by Tschinkel using orthodontic plaster display what all the fuss is above ground. I am not a big fan of these creatures but you can't ignore enlightened workmanship.

Best Places for jobs

According to Forbes, Sarasota, FL is listed at 4 out of 5 for the best places for jobs. Considering I have to find one soon this is good news. Curiously, 2 other picks were in Southwest FL, Cape Coral was number 1 and Naples was number 3. It's nice to be on a positive list for a change. Mostly the area gets on the most inflated real estate market list.

Building a House in Central FL

I came across a very informative site called Building a House in Central FL a construction journal for [our] environmentally friendly ICF house in Central Florida. They do a great job of going through the decisions, mistakes, set backs etc starting from the very beginning through financing, selecting a builder and material choices. They are far into the project so it's great to follow along. What's most interesting is some of the lessons they've learned. I'll be posting more from their blog later because most of it covers a lot of similar material choices etc.