Our Visit to Charleston

Lori and I just arrived back yesterday from our week's visit to Charleston. The highlight of our visit was seeing Caitlin starting to walk. Within a few days she had given up crawling in favour of walking. If there was no table to help her get into a standing position, she would use the nearest wall to get up.

Caitlin loves balloons.

I had a chance to try out my new telephoto lens.

Steve, Caitlin and I went to the beach on Saturday, where there was also a little playground. Caitlin loved the swings and was not afraid of the water at all!

She likes her gourmet meals . . .

. . . and was very pleased with her Easter dress

Brian was able to join us for dinner several times, which gave a good opportunity to get a group photo of a large portion of the Crawford clan. Hopefully the missing and growing contingent now in San Antonio will soon be able to join up and we can get the whole clan together for a Christmas newsletter photo opportunity.

Florida Kitsch and Alligators

One of the art forms practised here (and I think more popular in Florida than anywhere else in the world) is the use of "kitsch" art to decorate both inside and outside the house. This art form originated, I believe, with the placement of pink flamingos outside the house. Well, I have not seen any pink flamingos, as people here have moved well beyond that phase . . . to alligators, cranes, frogs, ducks, lighthouses and a myriad other art forms. I have been looking for a good subject to photograph, so maybe at some point in the future I can show you some of the most dazzling examples native to this habitat. I came across a mother lode of these for sale at the Red Barn Flea Market nearby. Be sure to put this place on your list to visit when you are down here, so that you can stock up and display this wonderful art form in your own neighbourhood. Your neighbours will be impressed!

Here are some pictures taken at the Flea Market so you can start making your selections now.

. . . and as in my last post, the sign above is very popular (who says us Floridians do not have a sense of humour).

Actually (as Callum would say), talking of "kitsch" alligators, we understand there are real alligators in the lakes in our community. We get possession of our house, which is on a lake, on April 1, so I hope to eventually get some alligator pictures to show you, but until then here is a picture of an alligator that was at least 10 feet long that we spotted recently at the Myakka State Park near Sarasota.