Category: finding my way

'scene' along the way, adventure, antiques, attention to detail, attitude adjustments, blessings, connections, exploring new places, finding my way, Florida landmarks, friends, fun, life goes on, live and learn, making memories, perseverance, photography

A Holiday Stroll…

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And then we strolled through the Henry Plant Museum that was all decorated for Christmas. A fellow photographer says that he has been to this event twice before, and it’s never the same thing twice. I would love to come back again next year…

Santa is there to greet you as you’re buying your tickets. It’s so overwhelming to see those lovely rooms, the carpets, the wall hangings, and the lovely pieces of furniture.
Then you step into the hall, with doorways all along the length, and a beautiful tree to draw you in. Look at the carpet, and all the displays all along the way. I tend to think in terms of the pictures to take, which sometimes makes me miss the lovely details that I’m photographing.
The beautiful Christmas tree sitting at the end of the hall was lovely.
Now I don’t know what order the rooms were seen in. But if I remember correctly this room was first one I saw, and then I knew this event was something truly special.
Just passing from room to room was a treat.
Who wouldn’t love the bottle tree.
My friend totally missed Santa’s elves in a display case in one of the rooms. Or was it in the hallway?
A lovely bedroom display. A beautiful display of fans to decorate the tree.
This doorway gave us a peek into the gift shop.
I wonder if they got new hats for Christmas?
Nutcrackers on display.
Even the teddies got presents. I also took a picture of the tea set which is when I noticed the little lizard, or possibly it’s an alligator, on the teacup and decked out in a bow.
One room was dedicated to Florida’s role in the Spanish American war…
But Christmas was also represented here.
This suggestion of a soldier writing home really got to me…
This room was dedicated to women’s pastimes, which included accompanying their husbands at fishing or hunting. But also suggested relaxing with a cup of tea or listening to a concert out on the lawn.
What a wonderful way to celebrate, and think of the Christmas traditions of long ago.

We decorated the tree with decorations that we each have accumulated over the years. A real collaboration. We spent the first Christmases of our lives in the same place, without ever meeting, and then life took us to different places through the years, but now we are spending Christmas in the same place again. But together this time. And I have to say that the Christmas spirit has found me again, and I’m very glad that it’s back.

a second look, adventure, attention to detail, birds, black and white, exploring new places, finding my way, Florida wildlife, making memories, nature, perseverance, photography

John Chestnut park…

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I see photos from lots of photographers on my Facebook feed, and one thing that’s always mystified me was the photos of alligators at John Chestnut park. I’d never seen one there, and found myself surprised when I saw pictures of them taken there. Maybe I just chose the right day to visit, but the water levels were higher than what I thought was normal. I parked in my usual area, and walked over to the water and realized that I had a clear view across the lake, no rushes blocking my view. But it wasn’t until I looked through the camera and zoomed in that I realized that what I thought was a piece of automobile tire floating right at the shoreline was actually an alligator. A little one for sure, but closer to me than I wanted it to be. That’s the feature photo.

I walked to the left from my usual parking spot, the opposite way I usually go, and found some new scenery.
I hadn’t ever seen a Black and White Warbler on my previous visits.
He moved on in just a second.
These cuties are always there no matter which way I go. A Tufted Titmouse, so cute.
And very busy so you have to be quick.
I was walking on a boardwalk that followed the edge of the lake. I was so surprised to see this pier, I had no idea that it was there. But I wonder how I didn’t know it was there since it’s so big.
As I walked along the boardwalk I saw another small alligator in the water. Or maybe it was the same one from before. I saw that he seemed to be heading for shore, and when I walked off the boardwalk there he was, sunning himself. He looked cute there, still looking like a baby. There was a parking area close by and some people my age were getting out of their car. So I pointed to the alligator and the gentleman said, “Oh yeah, he’s always there.” All righty then.
I thought I’d head to the pond that I knew was across the parking lot to see if there might be some birds there. But I must have been destined to see alligators today because I don’t think I could have missed this one on the far shore. Definitely not a baby. A couple of young men with cameras were heading in that direction too, and they happily mentioned another spot not too far from the park that you could see alligators. Seeing them usually isn’t my goal, but of course I do take picture when I see them. I took my picture and so did they, but then they left and continued around the lake.
I waited to see if they were going to approach this alligator for photos, and sure enough, they did! I wasn’t too worried that they’d be attacked, but I did head to my car after I took this picture so that I didn’t show up in their photos. Hopefully all ended well.

When I decided to go to this park I had in mind to figure out where those alligators might be. And yes, I was walking on a new to me path for most of my time there. But I always go to that pond and I had never seen an alligator there. Let’s hope I wasn’t shooting the scenery across the water with one of them right there on the bank right in front of me.

'scene' along the way, a second look, Amazing artwork, attitude adjustments, birds, boats, facing facts, finding my way, friends, fun, making memories, perseverance, photography, sunset

Sunset and sailboats…

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When we house hunted in Florida all those years ago the first place we looked was Dunedin. Such a charming town, but I had to face the fact that I couldn’t afford it then, and I can’t afford it now. The reason for this visit was to see the Dunedin Boat Parade, which we attended last year. But this time we wanted to stake out a prime spot to shoot our photos, and since we would be in the area for a morning with the photo group it seemed like a good idea to just head to Dunedin early. I’m not going to tell you what time it was when we snagged the last possible spot right on the seawall, you’d think we’d lost our minds. Not that other people we waiting already. Nope, they had just placed their blankets and chairs extra early. We didn’t have things we were comfortable leaving to save out spot so we stayed, but I will make a note for next time. In the meantime there were a few things to take pictures of as we waited.

This shipwreck caught our eye. I have no idea what the story is, and amazingly people walked on the rocks with their kids to see it up close, and looked like they were going to break their necks as they did it. Thankfully no one did. And by the time the sun set all the rocks were underwater and the boat looked like it was just at anchor out there.
This anhinga seemed happy to fan his feathers on the sail.
Boats came and went all afternoon, including this guy. When my kids were young we had a raft like this one, minus the electric motor, you had to row. My son and his friend used to take it out on the lake we lived on in MD, and they always came back soaking wet. They insisted that they didn’t know what happened, ‘it just tipped over’. So I stealthily set out with the dog on the leash to investigate one day, and saw them happily jumping out of the raft and climbing back in. I’m glad now that he got to do things like that growing up.
As it got darker the lighted boats started out of the harbor to take their place in the parade.
As you can see from the feature photo the sky did develop some color as the sun set. And the birds took to the sky to return to where ever it is that they rest for the night.
I’m quite happy with this photo taken with my new camera. But it’s the only picture that I got with it. Someone needs to read up on the settings in the camera because I fooled with them and it wouldn’t take a picture after that.
I pouted a bit, okay a lot, since I couldn’t take the pictures I’d expected to take, but I finally got out my phone and took a few more pictures.

There were a LOT of boats, and it was a very long day. But by the next time this event rolls around again I’m sure I’ll be ready to try, try, again. I’ll make sure I’ve conquered the camera by then.

adventure, coping, finding my way, Florida wildlife, live and learn, nature, perseverance, photography, Uncategorized

Hitchhikers…

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I love my car, I really do. It has taken me on a lot of actual miles, which in turn lead to many emotional ‘miles’ over the last few years, and for that I am grateful.

But if I have one complaint about the car it’s the fact that the windshield fogs up whenever I head out for a sunrise photo shoot. I have no idea if my previous cars also fogged up in the early morning darkness because getting out for the sunrise was never a priority until the last few years. My routine to combat the nearly impossible-to-see-through windshield involves using the defroster, turning the heat on even though I don’t need it, and opening windows a crack, none of which seem to do much to solve the problem. So I drive with the windshield wipers on. If other drivers notice this I assume they are also struggling to see where they are going so they probably understand my dilemma.

But this morning it wasn’t the thought of a nice sunrise that had me out in the darkness, it was a hankering for a pumpernickel bagel that rousted me out. I started the car and immediately the windshield fogged up, so I turned on the wipers, opened the window a crack, and flicked away a drip of water from my hand as I started up the street. After I turned onto the main street, the one with no place to pull over, is when I saw something jump on the dashboard. I screamed my best horror movie surprise scream, but I quickly saw that it was a frog. A frog which I now realized was the ‘water drop’ that had landed on my hand and that I had flicked away. Now I was watching the frog as he tried in vain to jump out the windshield, while also trying to see the road through fog while the windshield wipers wiped away. The photo op came when I was able to pull into a parking lot and take a photo, after which I was going to figure out how to encourage him to hop out of the car. Instead he disappeared down into the opening between the dashboard and the windshield, and that’s the last I saw of him.

I can’t say for sure that no frogs were harmed in the creation of this blog post, but I must say that I did enjoy my pumpernickel bagel. And with two more in the freezer I may not have to repeat this adventure for a little while. And another day dawns…

'scene' along the way, a second look, backyard visitors, fantasy images, finding my way, Florida wildlife, front yard visitors, neighbors, on closer examination, perseverance, photography

Adventures after dark…

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Even in the daylight I watch my step in this neighborhood. There are lots of mature trees casting deep shadows, and wrecking havoc with the sidewalks with sections of concrete just dying to trip you up. But walking up the street last night I ran into a few of the neighbors…

He was talking to me, but I hurried on past.
A welcoming committee perhaps?
Keep on walking.
These neighbors seemed friendlier.
Fluttering bats and twirling ghosts, I headed back home.

Little kids might be too intimidated to approach these houses for Trick or Treating. And I thought of this neighborhood as typical suburban, but I hadn’t checked it out after dark.

'scene' along the way, attention to detail, attitude adjustments, bunnies, exploring new places, finding my way, friends, fun, Just do it, nature, perseverance, photography, Rise and shine, simple things

Afternoon delight…

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Lettuce Lake Park made for an enjoyable afternoon stroll, even if there was no lettuce, and no lake, to be found. In the moment I missed the prop value of the ‘I survived Lettuce Lake Park’ sign. But there was a paved trail to ride, and the woods were beyond gorgeous. Shady and cool, but that’s not as big of an issue now that October is here. And there is a boardwalk to explore next time.

Taking a picture is usually my first thought, but I saw these people coming up behind us with four dogs that could only be Bernie-doodles, and I got excited. I asked the breed and they were ‘mini ‘Bernie-doodles. Mom, dad, and two puppies. So darn cute!
Usually I want some wildlife or action in my photos, but I honestly loved the woods here, and scenes like this kept catching my eye..
If I remember correctly this is a scrub oak.
Does something live in there I wonder?
Beauty berries were the only ‘color’ we saw, and no butterflies or birds paying any attention to them.
Trying a black and white version.
Then I spotted some wild life.
With those long legs she could have chosen to hop away pretty fast.
But she didn’t. I told a Dad and his boys to look for her up ahead, and they seemed happy to tell me that they’d seen her as they zoomed past us on their second lap around the path on their bikes.
We continued on the path, nearly back to where we started.

There is lots more to this park, and when we come here again I’d like to do it earlier in the day.My friend isn’t as ‘up and at ’em’ as I am in the morning. But the sunset is getting earlier, and soon these afternoon adventures can include the sunset. That also works for me. Along with this cooler weather.