Yesterday was my 30th birthday. It didn't come as too much of a shock. I have been "almost 30" for three years now. I took the day off from work and Ocala and I made an impromptu trip to Sea World. It was a lot of fun. Just wandered around and looked at animals all day. It was super nice and relaxing, as I have been working crazy hours these days.

Its funny, but turning 30 seems a lot younger to me than turning 27 did. I guess it is because it is about the beginning of a decade rather than the end of one. I find myself setting goals of what I want to accomplish in the next ten years and they seem a lot less far-fetched then what I set about to try and did when I was in my twenties.

My uncle is very ill. I am not sure how old he is, but he is my Dad's older brother... and since my Dad would be like 78 now.. my uncle must be in his mid 80's.

The other day I was in the checkout line and saw that Harrison Ford was on the cover of the Enquirer for some ridiculous "Drunken Binge!" article. Obviously he went out and had a drink or two.. and got the usual drunk photos (the kind everybody gets) taken of him. Looking at the pictures of him I was thinking about how my lifetime had aged the man. I think about that a lot with celebrities, him specifically, since I am so used to seeing the much younger version of him gallivanting around the galaxy and finding precious artifacts in long forgotten caves.

But it always hits me as a surprise to see what it does to people I know. It gets accelerated when you move away from your family. Kids grow up in a couple of visits... Adults go gray overnight. My uncle is one of the kindest most gentle people I have ever met. He has a voice that you never confuse with anyone else. Him and my aunt lived near me when I was growing up for quite a while. I saw 'The Wizard of Oz' for the first time sitting in their living room. When I broke my arm in 6th grade, they came and got me. My aunt made a make-shift splint until we got to the hospital.

I can tell already that today is going to be one of those days where you drown in the pace of it all and it is all over before you even feel awake. The kind of day that I try not to have.

While I was sitting here typing, Afta saw a spider crawling down the wall. Even after it met with a toilet paper squashing death, she sits staring at the wall. She is both horrified and intrigued by bugs. When she was a kitten, she let out a loud yelp and ran to the other side of the room at her first sight of a bug. It was a beetle crawling along near the ceiling. She eyed the ceiling for weeks after that. It was as if her whole safe little apartment world had been shattered.

Watching that little drama unfold just now made today seem a little better and slower. : )

I took this right after taking the last one of the train, still in my habit of re-looking for the small things. I liked the texture contrasts. The crispness of the leaves, the grain quality of the snow, and the softness and sharpness of the plants themselves seem like a nice combination.

Another shot from the dock area down by St. Anthony Main.