Winter Solstice, Manatee visitation

Winter means manatees!  It's 50 degrees.  The manatees are taking shelter in our spring fed lake.  They raise their heads to poof out a breath, take another, and roll back underwater again. 

The winter solstice is coming up too - in about an hour!  11:47 eastern time.  Yahoo!  That means the longest night of the year is behind us and ever more daylight ahead.  Ok, a minute or two per day, but we are on the upswing.

We are still learning the new camera, and the boat parade was particularly challenging.  At least the night was clear and the rain finally gave it up to cold and clear with stars and a sliver of moon.  

OK, so where are the bikes and the eats, you ask?  Ummm, well to tell the truth I totally forgot to take ANY pics of the amazing food that people brought.  Some blogger, huh?  At least I can say most of the guests were bike folk, and every single one of them was hungry, which certainly fits the mold at our house!