It's Spring in Florida...

 My friend, Jan, in Florida, sent me this photo
of a family of Sandhill Cranes that are hanging
out in her back yard. The baby is only a couple days old.

 

Reminds me of the beach in Ormond...

 

 

 

 

 

 one-legged posing
I can stay here all day long
watch out for the wave!

Irma...

Unless Hurricane Irma takes a sharp right turn
very soon, all of Florida will be hit hard this weekend.
I'm worried for my friends.

In 2004, I huddled in my home for 24 hours after
Hurricane Charlie crossed the state and hovered over
Daytona. The winds had dropped to 100 mph by then
but I'd never been so scared.

May all the folks stay safe. 

Now there are three ...Kattia, Irma, Jose.

Beach Pelicans...(originally published 4-28-2009)

skimming over
invisible slidingboards of air,
buoyant as balloons
no strings attached.
glide and slide
no care, so slow any
other would plummet
without flapping.
landing only to
belly-surf and find
lunch in the mullet pack
racing below glassy swells.

Where's the beach?...

Brother Tom and his family went to Orlando for Christmas
and New Year's and all I got were these drool-worthy photos.
They say they had a terrific time.
I am such a weirdo... the huge crowds would have been more
than I could stand. I long for peace and quiet and isolation.  
And not one trip to the beach? Really? tsk tsk.

deserted beach...

lull after summer
soon to be filled with snowbirds.
squawking for sunshine.

Ormond Memorial Gardens...

This little blue house sits at the edge of the
gardens next to the parking lot.
They use it for story-time for kids and sometimes
to sell local artist crafts.

I love the greenery that thrives in shade.
(under and behind the moss)

Peacock sculpture in the pond was donated
by the widow of the museum founder, an artist
in her own right.

The turtles were skittish, watching us behind them,
and diving into the pond if we moved in front of them.

I see a frowning face above the dark spot on the tree.
The gazebo is a favorite place for weddings, but
I'd advise against holding them in the summer
unless you especially like public steam baths.
(hot and no breeze.)

There are flowers blooming all year long.

And you folks seem to like flowers, so there ya go.

A waterfall not far from the museum building.
Benches provided here and throughout the garden
for peaceful contemplation.

I played with the color a bit and thought this version
turned out kinda Japanese-y.

And this version could be LSD-y.

Thus endeth our tour...

Race time in Daytona, again...

A lovely place to spend some time.
Opened in the late 1940s because of
a WWI veteran and artist.

This is the 50-year anniversary of the
24-hour race in Daytona.
That was last weekend, I think.







Even the art museums celebrate this
area's claim to racing fame.








The original NASCAR track was the beach and A1A.

Bill France started it all.
The Daytona 500 is February 26 this year.













Smokey Yunick always did it his way.


The good old boys always
made sure there were pretty
girls to decorate the events.







I'll do a separate post with pics
from the gardens.

the last of Blue Spring, I promise...

more photos from Blue Spring...

Blue Spring Gentle Giants...

My friend Jan took all four photos on this page.

Park rangers said they counted 66 manatees this day.
We saw a couple dozen.

A mama sea cow and two babies,
most likely only one is hers.

Mama liked doing rollovers.

Blue Spring State Park...

Took another walk-about, this time to
Blue Spring, to ooh and ah at the manatees
that enjoy the warm waters here in the winter.
Before we got to the manatees and other wildlife, we wandered
over to the Thursby House. One of the founding families
for this area and who originally owned this huge property...













An artist's rendition of a manatee in mosaic
lounges on the front porch. (Just for you, Boxer!)




















It started to rain lightly, so we ducked into
the gift shop for shelter and browsing.
That's my friend, Jan, looking at manatee
Christmas ornaments on the tree. She's
taking a day off from bear patrol duty.

The wood sculpture of the mama sea cow
and her calf is about four feet tall.


When the rain stopped, we headed for the park trail,
after taking good note of the warning signs for the
ever-possible alligator. Watch out, Jimbo! heh.

Yes, I took photos of the manatees and oodles of
other nature-y things. Have patience, folks.
This could be a series, like the roses and autumn hiking.