Making the best of it...

It was 48 degreees outside when I woke up this morning around 6:30. Winds were calm and it seemed that it was going to be a good morning for flying. Stepping out onto the lanai, I realized that 48 degrees is cold - it seemed that it was going to be a good evening for flying.

The biggest problem with flying in cold weather is keeping the hands warm. I have not found a pair of gloves that are warm, comfortable and that allow full control of the throttle, toggles and the kill switch. If you know of something that works well, let me know.

Rather than waste a beautiful morning, D. and I packed up the cameras and headed to Lake Manatee State Park. We had discussed going to the Little Manatee River State Park but the homeowners association had scheduled a vote on the new mailboxes that are being proposed for our neighborhood and, being the critical issue that it is, we didn't want to travel too far from home and possibly miss our opportunity to cast our vote.

The ranger at Lake Manatee told us that the best birding and wildlife opportunities would be down the road at the east entrance because there were several miles of trails and far fewer people. She was right about the number of people but wrong about the photo op.

After walking for miles without seeing anything filmworthy, I figured I make the best of it and started snapping pictures of bees.



A short time later, we tried sneaking up on a yellow shafted flicker (a member of the woodpecker family) but it would have nothing to do with us. Made the best of it and snapped this shot.



During our hike we noticed that there is a dam on the Lake. It is pretty large and we assumed that it might give us a decent vantage point to photograph the wildlife around the lake. We could see no way to reach it from the paths shown on the park map. The "Alligator Alley" trail went up to the lakefront but did not come close to the dam.

The "Road to Nowhere" trail runs close to route 64 and we assumed that it wouldn't be worth the wandering but we figured that we were here, it was here and we would make the best of it and made the trip. It would be nice if I could tell you that it was a great decision and we found lots of truly amazing things to photograph. Instead, the only opportunity I had was to snap a few shots of a hawk from 100 yards away.



None of the shots were as good as the ones taken last weekend at Myakka River State Park. Although we walked less today, it seemed longer. Last weekend the time flew by; today the time seemed to crawl.

So, what does any of this have to do with flying?

It seems to me that we could have spent the first half hour at the park and decided that it wasn't going to be as good as Myakka, gotten back in the car and gone home to vote on mailboxes. Instead, we chose to make the best of it and managed to have an enjoyable morning.

The Parastars may never be the club that it once was but that doesn't mean that we should just sell our motors and sit at home. There are still many enjoyable adventures for the club. Some of these adventures will be better than others; all of them will be worthwhile. As a club, we need to accept where we are and begin making the best of our situation.

Just so that you know: as we left the park and headed for home we passed Dam Rd. Could Dam Rd. get us to the dam and the photo op that we thought would be waiting for us there? We turned the car around and headed back.

From the high fences and razor wire, it was pretty obvious that there was no access to the dam from Dam Rd. There was, however, a u-pick hydroponic strawberry and vegetable farm called 3-D. Fresh strawberries sounded like a great dessert for our as-yet-unplanned dinner, so we stopped. The owner, Ed Donley, provided an entertaining and educational tour of the 2 year old facility. We walked out with several pounds of strawberries that tasted so much sweeter because we now know the farmer and the methods used to grow them. We also know where to go to get reasonably priced, locally grown produce that is water-wise and, although not "organic", methods used to grow them are more environmentally friendly than traditional methods. This was certainly the high point of the day and the cameras were in the car the whole time...

So, again, what does this have to do with flying?

To me, it illustrates how being flexible and open to new experiences pays off. We had started out for a day of photography but ended up learining about hydroponics. The club needs to pick a goal and start moving in that direction. As things progress, other opportunities will present themselves. Some of these opportunities will be unforseen and may prove to be more rewarding than the original intended destination. The trick is to not allow opportunities pass us by. We had already passed it and had to turn around to get back to Dam Rd. and it was damn well worth it.