A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens
Life on my own, on the Nature Coast of of Florida, and beyond…
“Look,” said one city girl to the other. “Cows in a field of flowers! We have to go back for pictures!”
“They look so pretty, I love cows,” said the other city girl.
“Un, you don’t think they’re bulls do you?”, asked the first one, the light dawning a bit.
And now taking her photos from behind the car.
Just two city girls out for a drive, seeing what they could see along the way. They had gotten their photo of the ‘cow’ in the flowers, and so it was time to move on…
Yes, I’m not in Florida anymore. And the sun doesn’t set on the far horizon. Nope, it sinks behind the distant hills and trees before the sky sets itself on fire. But that’s okay, it’s still spectacular…
This phrase has become a joke within my camera club, FCCP, Florida Center for Creative Photography. It’s a favorite saying of our fearless leader, Jeff, and I took it to heart yesterday. It was cold and overcast and I wanted to wrap up in a blanket and read, but every time I went into the kitchen to get a cup of tea I would see not one, but two, hummingbirds buzzing around the feeder. So eventually I put the biggest lens onto the new camera, plus I used the extender, and I upped my ISO to 12800 and attempted to get pictures of them in flight. The extender requires you to use manual focus though, and I probably would have done better without it. I suppose that’s why we practice. And the ISO could have gone higher even, so I’ll probably be out there later today. It might even hit 70 today. That would make this Floridian happy!
Something about our inability to take a nice picture of the state house in Concord the other day had us back there yesterday. Early, not sunrise early, but early enough that the golden dome was in the sunlight rather than shadow. And on a holiday when there wouldn’t be parked cars and lots of people annoying you by just going about their business. Of course festivities were planned for the day so we moved on to a couple of local parks to walk and see what we could see. I think it all was just an excuse to go out for a huge breakfast at the Newel Post. It was great, but it put me in a stupor for the rest of the day. Note to self; more walking, less eating…
I spotted this wheel the other day in my travels, but had forgotten about it until I was out shopping yesterday and saw it again. I loved the wheel in the little park, and the flowers too, so I was happy to stop to take pictures yesterday.
I wanted a closer look at the bridge across the street also. The river was quite loud as it pounded against the rocks and supports of the bridge. The reverse of what I’ve been seeing since I have been taking note of the tranquil FL rivers and landscapes. I could feel the colder air next to the river as I stood there trying to compose a picture. But as I stood beside the river I noticed a sign that indicated that there was in upside-down covered bridge a quarter mile up the path. And up the path I went. And up some more. I asked a family who were coming down the path if there was really a bridge up there, I needed confirmation.
Do you see it there? Barely visible through the trees? That was pretty much as far as I got yesterday, a glimpse through the trees. It wasn’t the covered bridge I was hoping to see. And then I went home yesterday and mistakenly erased my SD card in the camera and lost all the pictures I’d taken. I had a senior moment. Which means that the pictures you are seeing are from today, I went back to try again. And I walked further up the path than I did yesterday and discovered a slight trail to the bridge itself.
The upside-down designation refers to the fact that the trains traveled on the top of the bridge rather than through the center. I thought about walking out onto the bridge but I decided not to push my luck. It wasn’t rickety, or didn’t seem to be, but standing up so high, with the river and rocks below, seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. My snowbird summer is off to a perfect start and I’d like it to stay that way…
This is the last of my Hershey adventures from a few days ago. I got so excited over the butterflies in the atrium that I hardly noticed the flowers in the garden at Hershey. Not that I didn’t take pictures of them, I did. But I did them first since it wasn’t raining at that point. I took more of them than I realized actually, but once it started raining and I went inside I have to admit that I was quite overwhelmed with the butterflies. I love when I happen to take tons of pictures in one day and I have a day or two when I can just process the ones I already have and take it easy. It’s especially helpful at this exact moment while I sort out my computer storage issues. Milton Hershey did amazing things for his community, and this is just one of them. It was lovely. 
The only disappointment for me was the fact that the lilacs were a tease. Not open enough to be pretty, and, more importantly, try as I might I couldn’t smell them. I hope I find them again in my travels…
