Night Sounds

We live in Orlando, you know, the city where dreams come true. For several years, we stayed in an apartment located just two traffic lights away from Mickey Mouse's door. Every night we would hear a cacophony of fireworks explosions from Epcot, Magic Kingdom, or Downtown Disney. (Every now and then we would hear heavy walking and late night furniture rearranging from the neighbors upstairs.)

Fireworks are exceptionally loud during holidays like the eve of the 4th of July or New Year's. They usually last about 10 to 15 minutes, so they won't really keep you up. If they ever wake you up, especially the finale super-explosions, you quickly realize it's the Disney fireworks giving all those breathtaken visitors the awe of their lives, and you promptly fall back asleep.

Since we moved to our new place last year, we have a different set of nighttime sounds. We now live about two blocks from Seaworld, where they also have fireworks, although not everyday, and not as loud as Disney's. And because the Orlando International Airport is just 15 minutes away, the traffic of airplanes can sometimes be heard in the stillness of the night.

But tonight, we heard a totally unusual sound. For a second it sounded like someone dropped a piece of furniture upstairs. Only thing is, there's no "upstairs" -- unless someone dropped something on our roof. It didn't quite sound like thunder... the weather was clear all day.

"What the heck was that?"

So, we paused the show we were watching and we stepped outside, looking around for whatever may have caused that thunderous explosion.

A neighbor was taking a stroll. She saw me walk out to our driveway and look up at the clear blue sky.

"You heard the sound of the shuttle," she called out, smiling.

"That was the space shuttle?"

"Yes, the sonic boom of the space shuttle."

"Oh, wow! That's right! They're landing tonight! Thanks!" It was a huge "aha" moment for me!

So, there it was, our first sonic boom experience in all the years we lived in Orlando. Next time we hear a thunderous sound like someone dropped a piece of furniture "upstairs," we'll know to suspect it was another space shuttle announcing its arrival.

A news article said the Endeavor caused a "twin zonic boom" as it came in to land at the Kennedy Space Center. For more about the Space Shuttle Endeavor and its mission, and some tidbits about the International Space Station that's now 70% complete and gearing towards human expeditions to the moon:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Flamingo A Go Go

In case you're not familiar with my Flickr photo site, username: MyRuby, I'd like to share a set of interesting shots that I took the last time I visited Seaworld.

There's a preserve at Seaworld where Caribbean Flamingos congregate. The other times I visited the park, the birds were loud and cackling at each other -- doing their bird thing. This time, they were all taking a nap.

I'm not sure what it is that inspires them to nap at the same time, at this particular time, but there they were, their long necks all curled up, their heads tucked under a wing, and, yes, standing on one leg. All of them!



So, while I was pretending to be a photographer there, getting bored at all the ball of feathers I was waiting to move around for some semblance of a flamingo photo shoot, two of them woke up and walked toward each other. They seemed to have awoken too early, and decided to confront each other.



"Did YOU wake me up?"

"Of course not! Maybe YOU woke me up!"

Then a third one woke up and approached the other two. Their heads came together, bobbed up and down, their rubbery necks almost twisting around one another. They looked like they were planning something. For a few seconds there, I imagined them hatching a plan (get it, "hatching"?! LOL!).



"Hey, Vinni... here's what we'll do. On my signal, we'll flap our wings and run about, cackling like crazy, you get that?! We'll wake 'em up and show 'em who's boss!"

Well, they didn't really do anything like that. After a few more minutes of bobbing heads and nudging each other, probably some macho territorial ritual, they walked away and slowly faded into the pond-ful of balls of feathers. At least I got a few neat-o photos of these exotic iconic birds.

Next time I visit Seaworld, I'll camp out next to the penguins.

HINT: click on photos for larger versions and to browse my Flickr site.