This Wednesday morning, we saw a mystery bird floating on the canal behind our condo here in Fort Myers, Florida. The back of its head was all red, and its breast was white, flecked with black, wings very dark with that almost fluorescent green threading through. Still it was a duck-like bird, something like a big turkey. Maybe a tur-duk-en in the wild? I couldn't find it in Sibley's, the bird bible.

That's not to say we haven't seen mermaids. Here finally is the picture I took of the roadside mailbox mermaid, near Fort Myers, facing east with her brown hair and a somewhat fixed smile. Can I say life-sized? Nevertheless, what an incongruous sight. Whimsical. Celebratory.

I like Laurel Burch's mermaid a little better though; she's a little more mythical, a little wilder, and probably more romantic. This pic shows a quilt made from Burch's book Legends, and I'm sewing again, that is between researching and writing.

And speaking of writers, heartfelt congratulations to Linda Kay Silva on her just released Across Time, her 8th novel. I'm hot to read it now.

Our friends Henry and Jamie stopped by for a visit on their way to Sanibel Island AND Brazil, and I learned that Jamie's family came from eastern Scotland, very near the locale I've chosen for my current project. Jamie looked over some of the books I've collected on Scotland and talked with me a little about life along the coast near Dunsbeath (and the Gunn Historical Museum there).

So to close for today, I was back on Google, looking up links for today's quick write here in the student lounge at Edison College and learned that Laurel Burch, that wonderfully creative designer I've appreciated for so many years, just recently died. But her visions and dreams and paintings will continue to inspire me. Beth