Night Heron

We are lucky to have a large park near us which combines Spring Lake with Haworth Park and its Lake Ralphine. It is about a five mile walk around both lakes, but Ozzie can't make it that far any more, so today we went to the smaller Lake Ralphine which is well stocked with fish this time of year and has a boathouse. We got a kick out of watching the night herons, usually rather solitary and retiring, surrounding a couple of guys fishing in hopes of a free handout. The fisherman seemed to be quite used to them and laughed when they heard OilMan say he didn't realize they were such beggars....

A mother duck shepherded her ten tiny ducklings ashore, keeping a sharp eye out for big birds who could pick off one or two of them with ease. The geese sitting in the middle of the path hissed at us as we dared to pass....as if we were interested in taking either discarded bait or a baby duckling from them.

All Ozzie was interested in doing was going into the lake, so we found a shallow spot with no fisher people  and let him have a paddle. He found a big stick but decided that just getting himself around the lake was enough and abandoned it. 

We could easily have walked to the Trail House from Howarth Park but despite the cloudy cool weather, the parking lot was filling up quickly with dog walkers, mothers and fathers with toddlers, little kids on scooters, tennis players, cyclists and people checking out the kayaks and paddleboats for hire.

Someone waited patiently for us to dry Ozzie off with a towel and urge him to jump into the car so they could take our parking place and we could drive across the street to the Trail House.

The continually running Red Bull channel was showing cyclists hurtling off sheer slick rock cliffs, followed by another group who were riding their bikes off the edge of a multi story parking garage, bouncing off a wall opposite and (mostly) hitting a ramp at the base of the wall.   It was another case of, 'are they really crazy or am I just getting really old?' The baristas are getting to know us there and   and had our drinks going before we finished paying for them.

I have added simple syrup to my limoncello jar and will let it steep until tomorrow when I'll strain it into bottles. In the meantime I picked a batch of oranges to make an orange custard for a Cinco de Mayo dinner with Jim and Dana. Apparently we celebrate Mexican independence more in California than they do in Mexico, but it is certainly a good excuse for great Mexican food.

As I was picking oranges off the tree, I  noticed that it is covered with orange blossoms. Looks like there will be another bumper crop of citrus this winter.

I wonder how they make Aperol?