Another trip around the Sun

 

I survived another trip around the Sun! I competed in a fencing tournament on my birthday (this time against opponents in my own age bracket) and took home another third place medal. And I’m going kayaking in the Everglades tomorrow. So I’m trying to stay vigorous, despite that my age keeps ticking in only one direction, that being upward. Then again, it would be pretty weird if one’s age ticked downward (like Benjamin Button). Here are some pictures from adventures in South Florida from winter 2023-spring 2024. 

 

Photo #4 by Susan Studlar, fencing photos by Sophie D., all other photos by me, with only the first one being an NPS photo.

The Fire Lizard

 

Fire-breathing lizard!  I based this drawing on a photo of a goldenscale anole, a South American species that I’m not too familiar with.  I kept green anoles as pets as a kid.  Therefore, I know from direct observation  that this is how a lizard feels after he wins a dominance contest with a rival.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

For EVER food chain

 Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!  Here’s one from my sketchbook.  Welcome to the Everglades, where the wild animals can eat each other in peace.

 

A spider-web forged from string and glue

 

Here is a temporary exhibit that I made for the Everglades featuring our eight-legged friends. I'm still hoping to see an ogre-faced (net-casting) spider in the bush at night, but they are pretty elusive.

Originally posted on Facebook Everglades National Park and Instagram @evergladesnps:
 

"At the Shark Valley Visitor Center, Ranger Ross made a temporary exhibit appropriate for the month of October: The Amazing Spiders of Everglades National Park. The exhibit features the real-life superpowers of these eight-legged hunters—including the super-strong webs of the golden silk orb weaver, the mighty leaps of the regal jumping spider, and the Okefenokee fishing spider’s ability to walk on water!

The tremendous biodiversity of the Everglades includes spiders, and Florida has the greatest number of species of arachnids (spiders and their relatives) of any state east of the Mississippi.

Come check out the exhibit and all that the Shark Valley area has to offer: www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/svdirections.htm

NPS Photos by Ross Studlar

Alt Text Photo 1: Table with Everglades National Park green tablecloth featuring colorful photos and narrative text about five types of spiders native to Florida.
Alt Text Photo 2: Close-up of one aspect of the exhibit, a string and cardboard sculpture of a spider-web attached to tree branches.

#WildlifeWednesday #EvergladesNationalPark #Everglades"

Not too old for a sporting duel

 I was a fencer from ages 16-22.

I made several sporadic returns to the sport in the years since.

I made a semi-consistent return last year, after moving to South Florida.  I have been practicing with the Davis Fencing Academy of Miami.  Originally, I said that it was just for exercise and that I had no intention of competing.  The good vibes at the club prompted me to reconsider.

On May 27, 2023, I entered my first officially-sanctioned fencing tournament in almost 20 years.  The Titan Open had a broadly defined senior division, born in 2009 or earlier.  I competed primarily against teenagers and twenty-somethings, several of whom had earned Class E through B rankings through victories in prior tournaments.

I finished tied for third place.  I was over twice as old as the other medalists.  

Where else can you spend your Saturday hitting kids with a sword and not get in trouble with the law?

 

 

 Reach advantage versus southpaw! Double touches (when both fencers score simultaneously) happen frequently in epee.

 

Another double touch.  This was the match I went down on in the semi-finals.  My opponent went on to win the tournament. 

 

Photos by and © as follows: 1-2: Jeff Davis, 3-4 and 6-7: Jenni Pfeiffer, 5: Jacquelyn Davis.



 

Come see me at the Tampa Zine Fest!

Comics from the Wood is back!  I will have at table.  There will be live music and independent comics and zines of all kinds.  The artwork was designed and belongs to a wise organizer of the fest.  See their FB page for more information.  #tampazinefest

The Beginning and the End of 2022--in Animal Art

Based on sketchbook chronology, I’ve made an educated guess that the baby alligator is my first drawing of 2022.  Indisputably, the dragonfly naiad (larva) hunting a tadpole is my last drawing of 2022.  A voracious predator with a quick-thrusting extensible lower jaw, the naiad is a real-life xenomorph.  As a young woman on my guided walk at my other job as an Everglades Ranger put it, “Nature is metal!”