VeganMoFo Day #19: Sometimes You Have To Slog Through the Mud (and eat vegan mac & cheese with coconut bacon)

Today's MoFo post isn't the one I had semi-planned. Instead, I'm going to bring you some beautiful photos of where I live. And tell you that I ate comfort food for dinner.

This is a picture I took a while ago.
Before sunrise.
Low tide.
My beach.

I'm being tested, I know I am. At times like this I look for words of wisdom not from great prophets and seers. Nope. Instead I turn to nature. My "Life Lessons of a Turtle" book tells me "bad weather.... then good, then bad.... then good," and also that "sometimes you have to slog through the mud."

Oh yeah, don't I know.

Organic, gluten free, vegan mac and cheese with coconut bacon. This was my solution to today's test questions. Thanks cheekykitchen.com... I used your recipe for inspiration (minus the carrots, plus the coconut bacon).

This is my road.
This is what I saw last night on the way home from the gym when I rounded the bend.
It's a place I often stop before I get home, that little bend in the road.
Sometimes it's so quiet the silence is deafening.

What has been seen, cannot be unseen. Nature is magnificent. I love living in Paradise.

One of the most precious sights to behold.
An endangered Key deer fawn.

This is a picture I took from my roof one evening after sunset.

This is a juvenile bald eagle, his white feathers aren't in yet.
This was taken on the tree in the ocean to the left of my house.
I wish I had a bigger lens.. it's very hard to explain how large this "juvenile" was.
BIG.

This was taken by me one night during a lightning storm
Lightning was striking everywhere; I should not have been out there.
I couldn't resist.
It was like daylight from the constant strikes.
This is what I call lightning smoke... just after a strike.
As soon as I took this, sweet Peri wandered up to me.
It was in the days when he was roaming as Mayor of Long Beach.
I panicked. I didn't want him struck by lightning.
I concluded my photo session, scooped Peri up to safer ground
and called it a night, settling for lightning smoke.

This was a double rainbow I saw one morning while preparing breakfast.
It was huge.
It stretched from the Atlantic all the way to the Bight.
I leaned all the way off the roof to get as much as I could.
It took a series of 3 photos to capture the whole thing, end to end.
PS: I'm really good at multi-tasking during breakfast
when it comes to french toast and rainbows.

Sunset over the Coupon Bight, across the street.

Moon over the Atlantic, through the sea oats.

Moonrise over our neighbor's ocean tree.
The birds LOVE this tree (see Eagle above).
Osprey frequently hunt from this, or use it as a site to eat their meals.

Egret getting ready for lunch!

Back in the day when Peri roamed free.
Peri and Elsa in the sea oats.
I miss seeing the 2 of them together in there. 

Another sunset across the street from me.

Beautiful teeth you've got there!

I think I took this picture one Summer Solstice.

Roseate Spoonbills on the flats less than 1/2 mile from my house.

"My" mangrove on "my" beach as the tide is coming in.

Sea turtle hatchling we rescued as permitted Save-A-Turtle volunteers
about 10 days ago.
He was stuck in the nest.
He just was taken to his ocean home yesterday after R&R at the Turtle Hospital.

This was tonight.
On my roof.
Looking over the Atlantic.

This was my comfort food dinner.
Gluten free mac and cheese with coconut bacon. 

I expect that tomorrow will dawn shiny and bright. A new day, new challenges, and more opportunities to count my blessings.

"Bad weather.... then good, then bad.... then good."

"Sometimes you have to slog through the mud."

My little book also reminds me "sometimes you have to go deep," and finally "big breaks happen when you keep growing."

Indeed.