Tri-circle-D
<font color=peach>Throwing some love to TCD<br><fo
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2004
Even though we had a late night on the 31st, there was no rest for the weary on the 1st, as Rocky was up with the sun and ready for some action.
We began our morning with a stroll down the canal by the pet walk. It was still pretty dark as we began, so there are no photos to share of that. We basically just repeated our walk from our first morning. Minus the hot air balloon.
We returned to the 1500 loop via the 1600 loop. I had noticed these flags earlier, and I decided that I should take a photo to share:
The flag on the right is interesting to me. Doesnt it have an odd combination of Disney characters? I really dont understand what is going on here. What is the Cheshire Cat doing with Dumbo? Why are Goofy and Mickey here, but not Minnie or any Ducks or Pluto? Why is Dopey here? And, why Jiminy Cricket and Pinocchio? I find the whole thing to be very strange. What does it mean? Whoever put this all together must have been trying to communicate something. But what? Is there some kind of connection between these characters that I am missing? And of all the characters to choose from, why are these characters on a Christmas flag? I just dont get it!
After our walk, we headed out for an early morning golf cart ride.
There werent many folks out and about early on the 1st.
It was looking like it would be a nice, sunny, and warm Saturday. But folks were sleeping in.
Not much was happening down at the beach. Last night it was packed. This morning it is deserted:
Ill bet a lot of folks dont realize that there are citrus trees scattered throughout the Fort. There were a couple of orange trees adjacent to our site, and at other places on the 1500 loop, and here at the beach, at the edge of the woods, we can see a citrus tree with fruit on it:
I spent the first part of my life as a Yankee, and when I moved to Florida, I soon learned that there are a lot of citrus varieties that I knew nothing about. This is one of them. I believe that this is a calomondin tree. The fruit looks like little oranges. But, it is sour. It tastes something like a mix of orange, lemon and lime juice. Mrs. TCD, a Florida native, used to make calomondinade as a child. Its like lemonade, but with calomondins instead of lemons. Who knew?
The beach looked pretty good considering there were hundreds of people celebrating the New Year here just hours before:
In this shot, we are turned toward Discovery Island. The area shown in this photo is rumored to be part of an area where a new DVC resort is going to be developed at some point soon. Maybe. Hopefully, I will be able to return to this spot for New Years Day in 2012, and we will see if the view has changed:
As I headed back to the Settlement area, I took a couple of shots of the mystery building attached to the Pioneer Hall complex. Notice how the building was decorated with a Christmas wreath:
We learned last year that this entry area is just a façade for the Pioneer Hall loading dock and storage area, which is right on the other side of the door and windows we see in these photos.
This is the last shot you will see of the big Settlement Christmas tree from me:
Notice that the poinsettia plants which had been planted in the flower bed right inside the fence have already been uprooted and replaced.
From the Settlement area, we headed down to the canal behind the 300 loop to see if there were any signs of anything going on around there. In 2010, there were marker flags and small excavation projects that went on in this area.
There was a big portable pump set up by the dam:
I have seen this pump here before. Usually around this type of year. As I understand it, the drainage system that drains the swampy areas of the Fort into Bay Lake was designed to operate by gravity. It seems like during dry spells, they break out the pump to help. I didnt see the pump running at all during any time of this visit, but it looks like it is hooked up and ready to go.
The old abandoned cabin on the other side of the canal maintains its silent vigil looking over the Forts eastern flank:
I always enjoy the view from this side of the canal, by the cabin:
Notice that there is a seawall there on the other side of the canal, where it meets Bay Lake. I wonder why thats there? There isnt one on the other side of the canal.
Also, you can clearly see Cinderellas Castle and Space Mountain in the Magic Kingdom from here. Maybe not in the photo, but definitely with the naked eye. Heres a zoom on the area of the photo above which shows the DVC Bay Lake Tower resort on the left, and the castle and Space Mountain to the right:
Heres a look at the dam and pump from the other side of the canal:
The area along the right of the canal is a dog walk area. The 300 loop is off to the right of the dog walk. There are trash cans and poop bag dispensers located along this walk. Rocky and I decided to head on down.
This is the view from the bridge across the canal:
As we began our walk, we noticed several deer approaching from the other side of the canal:
You can see three deer on the right edge of this photo:
I heard a vehicle approaching, and turned to see a FW Security vehicle heading down to the area which we had just left. Somebody must have radioed in a TCD sighting. Too bad the po-po were late again.
Even though there were a lot of vehicle sounds, and car doors slamming, and human voices coming from the 300 loop, the deer continued to walk toward us:
These deer are wild. But, they are obviously accustomed to hearing the noises we humans make around the Fort. They did not show any fear or alarm concerning these noises. When the deer were just about across from us, each one turned, and walked casually into the woods.
But the last one stopped.
And he stood there and stared and Rocky.
And Rocky stared at him.
Rocky sat down.
And he stared.
And the deer stared.
Neither one of them moved.
Or made a noise.
They just sat and stared at each other.
Like this:
Rocky had never seen a deer before.
I presume that the deer must have seen a dog and a human before.
But the deer seemed to be curious about Rocky.
And Rocky was sure curious about the deer.
Were these two creatures somehow communicating with each other?
Why were they both just silently staring?
It was kind of a cool moment.
I felt like I was witnessing something special.
Both of these animals were completely calm and at ease.
Just calmly staring at each other.
Which is not how Rocky normally would act.
If it had been another dog, or a cat, or even a squirrel over there across the canal, Rocky would be pulling at his leash, straining to get over there.
But he was perfectly happy to just sit and stare at the deer.
This went on for quite a while.
Eventually, the staring contest would have to end.
Right?
Ill tell you how it ended in my next post.
TCD
We began our morning with a stroll down the canal by the pet walk. It was still pretty dark as we began, so there are no photos to share of that. We basically just repeated our walk from our first morning. Minus the hot air balloon.
We returned to the 1500 loop via the 1600 loop. I had noticed these flags earlier, and I decided that I should take a photo to share:
The flag on the right is interesting to me. Doesnt it have an odd combination of Disney characters? I really dont understand what is going on here. What is the Cheshire Cat doing with Dumbo? Why are Goofy and Mickey here, but not Minnie or any Ducks or Pluto? Why is Dopey here? And, why Jiminy Cricket and Pinocchio? I find the whole thing to be very strange. What does it mean? Whoever put this all together must have been trying to communicate something. But what? Is there some kind of connection between these characters that I am missing? And of all the characters to choose from, why are these characters on a Christmas flag? I just dont get it!
After our walk, we headed out for an early morning golf cart ride.
There werent many folks out and about early on the 1st.
It was looking like it would be a nice, sunny, and warm Saturday. But folks were sleeping in.
Not much was happening down at the beach. Last night it was packed. This morning it is deserted:
Ill bet a lot of folks dont realize that there are citrus trees scattered throughout the Fort. There were a couple of orange trees adjacent to our site, and at other places on the 1500 loop, and here at the beach, at the edge of the woods, we can see a citrus tree with fruit on it:
I spent the first part of my life as a Yankee, and when I moved to Florida, I soon learned that there are a lot of citrus varieties that I knew nothing about. This is one of them. I believe that this is a calomondin tree. The fruit looks like little oranges. But, it is sour. It tastes something like a mix of orange, lemon and lime juice. Mrs. TCD, a Florida native, used to make calomondinade as a child. Its like lemonade, but with calomondins instead of lemons. Who knew?
The beach looked pretty good considering there were hundreds of people celebrating the New Year here just hours before:
In this shot, we are turned toward Discovery Island. The area shown in this photo is rumored to be part of an area where a new DVC resort is going to be developed at some point soon. Maybe. Hopefully, I will be able to return to this spot for New Years Day in 2012, and we will see if the view has changed:
As I headed back to the Settlement area, I took a couple of shots of the mystery building attached to the Pioneer Hall complex. Notice how the building was decorated with a Christmas wreath:
We learned last year that this entry area is just a façade for the Pioneer Hall loading dock and storage area, which is right on the other side of the door and windows we see in these photos.
This is the last shot you will see of the big Settlement Christmas tree from me:
Notice that the poinsettia plants which had been planted in the flower bed right inside the fence have already been uprooted and replaced.
From the Settlement area, we headed down to the canal behind the 300 loop to see if there were any signs of anything going on around there. In 2010, there were marker flags and small excavation projects that went on in this area.
There was a big portable pump set up by the dam:
I have seen this pump here before. Usually around this type of year. As I understand it, the drainage system that drains the swampy areas of the Fort into Bay Lake was designed to operate by gravity. It seems like during dry spells, they break out the pump to help. I didnt see the pump running at all during any time of this visit, but it looks like it is hooked up and ready to go.
The old abandoned cabin on the other side of the canal maintains its silent vigil looking over the Forts eastern flank:
I always enjoy the view from this side of the canal, by the cabin:
Notice that there is a seawall there on the other side of the canal, where it meets Bay Lake. I wonder why thats there? There isnt one on the other side of the canal.
Also, you can clearly see Cinderellas Castle and Space Mountain in the Magic Kingdom from here. Maybe not in the photo, but definitely with the naked eye. Heres a zoom on the area of the photo above which shows the DVC Bay Lake Tower resort on the left, and the castle and Space Mountain to the right:
Heres a look at the dam and pump from the other side of the canal:
The area along the right of the canal is a dog walk area. The 300 loop is off to the right of the dog walk. There are trash cans and poop bag dispensers located along this walk. Rocky and I decided to head on down.
This is the view from the bridge across the canal:
As we began our walk, we noticed several deer approaching from the other side of the canal:
You can see three deer on the right edge of this photo:
I heard a vehicle approaching, and turned to see a FW Security vehicle heading down to the area which we had just left. Somebody must have radioed in a TCD sighting. Too bad the po-po were late again.
Even though there were a lot of vehicle sounds, and car doors slamming, and human voices coming from the 300 loop, the deer continued to walk toward us:
These deer are wild. But, they are obviously accustomed to hearing the noises we humans make around the Fort. They did not show any fear or alarm concerning these noises. When the deer were just about across from us, each one turned, and walked casually into the woods.
But the last one stopped.
And he stood there and stared and Rocky.
And Rocky stared at him.
Rocky sat down.
And he stared.
And the deer stared.
Neither one of them moved.
Or made a noise.
They just sat and stared at each other.
Like this:
Rocky had never seen a deer before.
I presume that the deer must have seen a dog and a human before.
But the deer seemed to be curious about Rocky.
And Rocky was sure curious about the deer.
Were these two creatures somehow communicating with each other?
Why were they both just silently staring?
It was kind of a cool moment.
I felt like I was witnessing something special.
Both of these animals were completely calm and at ease.
Just calmly staring at each other.
Which is not how Rocky normally would act.
If it had been another dog, or a cat, or even a squirrel over there across the canal, Rocky would be pulling at his leash, straining to get over there.
But he was perfectly happy to just sit and stare at the deer.
This went on for quite a while.
Eventually, the staring contest would have to end.
Right?
Ill tell you how it ended in my next post.
TCD