Christmas Animals

(you can click on pictures to enlarge if you want)

Christmas in Sanlan was not bad at all. We enjoyed the Moscow Ballet Nutcracker at the Lakeland Centre on the 21st. It didn’t even take much convincing to get John to go! (Bucket list?) We thoroughly enjoyed it and it seemed so Christmassy! The Lakeland Centre (partly shown in this picture) is a big venue for entertainers and productions of all kinds. We are fortunate to be able to take advantage of it while here. Shows that are seen in Toronto at home tour here but it is much easier to get to!

On Christmas day we got together with 4 other couples, also braving a Southern Christmas, and played Shuffle on the big courts and Horseshoes of all things! It was fun and very relaxing.

Dinner was a joint effort; I did the turkey. It turned out well. Necessity is the Mother of Invention: I had no gravy boat. While looking for somewhere to put the gravy to keep warm and also to use to transport it over to Ken and Kathy’s where we were eating, I had a eureka moment. I put it in my stove top stainless steel tea kettle. Voila! I was able to keep the gravy warm and then it worked perfectly to pass and pour.

I missed family and northern friends but I have to admit it is quite peaceful and relaxing having this type of Christmas. It is low key and Christmas Chaos is nearly non-existent. Everything is downsized. The key is to stay out of the stores at peak hours too! It has been wonderful enjoying the great outdoors in summer weather at Christmas! It is beautiful here and the wild life is amazing. The wild life I am talking about is not of the human kind although we are enjoying a great social life.

Imagine walking nature trails through jungle-like terrain (live oaks, palmettos) around Banana Lake and 100 yards down the path you see a bobcat! People at Sanlan RV Park have told us about them but we really didn’t believe it until we saw one the other day ourselves. It seemed frozen on the path when it saw us. We froze too. John looked through the binoculars as I fumbled to get the camera on it. The cat hunched up and stared and then sprung off into the dense foliage. Too late for a picture. It was a beige or tawny colour with blackish fur around its ears and face. I was a little nervous at first but soon realized it was more afraid of us. This picture shows the area of the trail where we saw it.

The other day we were biking the Fort Fraser Trail to Bartow and a couple of miles down smelled something horrible. We looked over at a field and in the distance saw a large dark lump on the ground. I immediately thought dead cow. John got out the binoculars and sure enough that is what it was! Ick! We continued to the end of the trail and by the time we passed it on the way back it was covered with buzzards. I hope it has been cleaned up by now! Surprisingly Florida has a lot of cattle and they graze in the strangest places.

Until now I have only seen opossums as road kill. At dusk the other day we were sitting in the screen tent beside our RV with friends. A possum was only a few feet from us. It was really ugly! The fur was splotchy and the white face and tail looked hideous. To make matters worse it was staggering and even falling down. It must be sick or rabid! I haven’t seen it since but have been on the lookout. Our neighbours are keeping a close eye on their dog. (since then we have heard that possums have poor balance so maybe that was normal behaviour)

Sanlan is unique in that it has large natural areas as well as a golf course, RV park, ponds and trails but it is on the edge of Lakeland and easy access to shopping, theatres etc. With all the birds and wild life around here you would think we were in a jungle; but not at all. It is the best of both worlds. Now that Christmas is over the park is getting busy and filling up. We are looking forward to the New Year’s Dance. A large group of us have tickets together. They only cost $5 and you bring your own preferred drink. Can’t go wrong!