it’s hot here in florida.  only mid 80s, but it feels hotter because of the mid 60s-70s we’re used to in chattanooga.  and the sun is closer here, too.  like a dork, i cut my hair really short the day before we came here.  i look cool if you don’t notice that my scalp is pink.

back to the swing.

i was watching the sky across the street and trying to figure out if the circling birds were turkey vultures or black vultures.  (later consultation of a bird book confirmed that they were black vultures.)  it struck me, like some devious lightning bolt of inappropriate humor, that they were circling over a neighborhood comprised of many, many retired folks.  don’t tell me that you can’t see the humor.  and if you know me, you’re not surprised.

then, because i wanted to tell people about it – i think it’s hilarious – i started trying to think of a justification for that thought.  i mean, if you’re going to say that vultures are circling over florida, you have to at least try to be nice about it.  and i came up with this insight (which i actually think is a good analogy):

the vultures remind me of this area’s overabundance of cosmetic surgeons, vasectomy doctors, and purveyors of products that prey on the aged.  i’m not kidding; within two miles down the main drag here i saw plenty of places you can buy a new face, better toys, and bad lawsuits.  i’ve never, in my life, seen such a concentration of human vultures.  by the time i was finished thinking of the analogy, i actually didn’t feel bad at all about the birds.

later on in the day, amy and i were walking and we saw an anhinga in a creek here.  click on the link.  they’re cool birds.