Act of kindness

I have the best blog readers/followers ever! I frequently get e-mails from folks, in addition to the comments you see posted on this site, but yesterday I received a small card in the mail which was address to both me and my mother.


I opened it up and discovered....


that one of my readers had made a donation to the Humane Society of Pensacola in memory of Mysti the kitty who graced our lives for such a short time. You can see photos of Mysti and read a bit about her by clicking HERE and HERE.

My mother and I would like to sincerely thank the anonymous donor for their kind and generous contribution to the Humane Society of Pensacola!

The Humane Society of Pensacola is a no-kill shelter and adoption center which operates on donations such as the one in memory of Mysti and fundraising events like the Nauga Champagne Breakfast last weekend. They receive no city, state or federal funding.

If you are considering a pet for your home, please consider checking out the Humane Society's facility at 5 N. Q Street in Pensacola. You may see their pets who need 'forever-homes' by clicking HERE.

Peaceful paradise

What peace I feel when looking out at this incredible paradise we live in. Wisps of clouds in a bright blue sky, sunlight sparkling like diamonds on a calm, jewel-colored Gulf of Mexico, and sand as white as snow.

Peace.

Nauga Champagne Breakfast

The party everyone looks forward to on Pensacola Beach is the Nauga Champagne Breakfast, hosted by the Krewe of Nauga. You know Mardi Gras is in full swing when you see people walking around the core area in their pajamas.


"And you just have to keep an eye out for those little Naugas cause they'll steal a can of hairspray right out from under you."

To read the story behind the Krewe of Naugas, click HERE.


Karina Foster is a former Nauga Queen! She's generally right beside Danah Gibson, founder of the Krewe of Naugas, greeting party-goers. This year's theme was 2010: A Space Naugassey


Two alien bakers.


It's a pinstripe alien. Yikes!

You'll see every type of costume and pajamas at the Nauga Champagne Breakfast. It's the most comfortable party in town!

A great time for friends to get together and lip-read because the music and laughter are raising the roof! ;-)

Oohhh, Mary Jo, I love your purple hair!

Masked man in caftan.

Now here is a mindboggler: The 2009 King of the Krewe of Wrecks...

Wait! It's the 2009 Queen of Naugas.

Actually, Tommy Grice held both positions and did double duty this year! No one can top Tommy in creativity...scary creativity.

Jayne Drees Redmond in Naugaflauge!

Sweet smiling faces, Natalie Bass and Danah Gibson, welcome one and all.

Betsy Philips is my favorite martian!

Slipper attire is always fun to check. This year we had frogs...

and lovely white kitties, but I missed Tweety Bird and the Flamingo slippers which we enjoyed so much last year!

Baskets lined the stage on either side. Some were to be raffled off, others went to winners of the Nauga Dawga and the Purrrfect Kitty contests.

Morrie Drees wore Naugaflage also, but he walked away with one of the great baskets raffled off!

The applause meter verified 'Hal9000' was the winner of the costume contest.

For those of you who may not know, proceeds from this fun event go to the Humane Association.

A group of former Nauga Queens wait for the annoucement to be made to the crowd - who will be the new Queen.

And it is Judy L'Oignon! The new Queen of the Krewe of Naugas!

Long live Queen Judy!

Pensacola Beach Fishing Pier

We had one more pretty morning before the clouds came rolling in. Winds out of the southeast kicked up the waves, but oh how I love those patches of blue sky!

Beautiful!

What a fabulous day! It made it into the 60's today and it feels fantastic to have clear, sunny skies.

Don't forget that you can check out the Island Empress webcam to see a great view of the Pensacola Beach Fishing Pier and beach. There is a link in the left hand column.

Storms move in

Our blue sky quickly disappeared this morning as gray clouds gathered. Storms are due to arrive mid-afternoon. {{{sigh}}}

Harsh winter

I was very sad to discover a sea turtle on my walk along the north shore this morning which had succumbed to the cold weather/water we've experienced in the Panhandle this year. I called our Park Biologist, Mark Nicholas, at Gulf Islands National Seashore to let him know what I'd found. Sadly, they later informed me it was a green turtle which is a species we see fewer of in this area.

Again, please be alert for cold-stunned sea turtles on either the north or south beaches. Even if they are not alive, it is important to track the number of sea turtles that have died. There is also the possibility of going through more periods of extreme cold in the coming weeks and if we spot a cold-stunned sea turtle early enough, it can be saved.

Mardi Gras

The island is kicking into high gear for Mardi Gras season. The signs are all around us!

Lingering gray

Gray, windy days continued through yesterday. You can see the surf pounding, displaying its own steel-gray color.


It has been weeks since I ventured to the beach - December 29, to be precise. It has been too cold, pouring rain, or gusting such high winds that I couldn't go out with my camera. On this part of the island (east end of Pensacola Beach), I was saddened to see the amount of beach erosion that's taken place.

At one point a lifeguard truck came past, displaying a vigorously flapping red flag. I doubt anyone would be foolish enough to try swimming or surfing on a day like this, but I noticed the driver barely had enough room to get between the surf and the sand fencing.

Be on the lookout

This is a call for all islanders to please be watchful for cold-stunned sea turtles along the shore. This goes for the north shore of the island as well as the Gulf beach.

Word came from the Park Service today that twenty cold-stunned sea turtles have been found in our district so far and that only five of them have survived. Most of them were found on the north side of the island. The record-breaking number of consecutive days below freezing is having a devastating impact on our sea turtles, though our area has not been affected as bad as the St. Joe area where several hundred have been found.

Cold-stunning is a process that causes sea turtles to become immobile due to the dramatic decrease in water temperature making it impossible for them to escape the cold water and migrate to warmer water. Once these turtles wash up on our beaches, it is a race to save them. A cold-stunned sea turtle may appear to be dead, but actually be alive! Without proper intervention a cold stunned sea turtle will inevitably die.

If you should see a cold-stunned turtle along Pensacola Beach (I'm referring to the residential and core area - Gulf Islands National Seashore areas are being patrolled), please e-mail me as soon as possible at djzztops@yahoo.com so that I can alert properly-trained people to handle the situation. Do not attempt to put the sea turtle back in the water if it is on shore and do not attempt to warm it with blankets since rapid warming can cause irreversible damage.

Thank you for your help.

Heat wave!

It feels like a heat wave! The temps have made it into the 40's and may actually make it to 50 degrees by the end of the day. This is a good thing considering something went wrong with our upstairs HVAC unit and it froze over night before last. The repairman won't be here until this afternoon! Let's hope it's something easy to fix! (Why, oh why didn't I take a photo of that giant ice cube!)


In the meantime, now that my fingers are warming up, I'll share a couple of photos from the Mystic Krewe of Nereids' King Kake Party which took place this past weekend. Above are a few of the lovely king cakes ready to be sliced and served up. Just so you know...they were yummy!

This is the back of Elaine Mitchell's beautiful jacket, which I love! Elaine was the outgoing 'Queen Doris' of the Mystic Krewe of Nereids.

Shiver me timbers!

I'm sure most of my readers have figured out why I'm still not posting after the holidays. It's COLD!

In fact, it was 21 degrees here on the island this morning, with wind gusts around 25 mph (it was gusting up to 33 mph yesterday). That's the coldest morning we've had in this new year -- at least on my balcony! To add to the discomfort, the humidity in the house is 20% downstairs and 36% upstairs! We're definitely not use to that on the island!

In the meantime, however, I've been working on photos I took during a cruise from New Orleans to Cozumel over the New Year holiday. I decided not to mix photos I've taken on trips off island with those on our beautiful beach, so I have created a separate blog on which to post my travel photos in the future.

You may click HERE to visit my Jaunts & Journeys with DJ blog.