friday's fringe 23 - psychedelic moo love

“Love is a green sky on a blue pasture, and I am the flying cow eating it all up.” 

~ Jarod Kintz, Love quotes for the ages. Specifically ages 18-81.

the original, snapped on the way to a client's house

lk

longhorns. ocklawaha. birds & a couple of bugs.

this past sunday we took a ride to 

Rodman Reservoir (or Lake Ocklawaha)

you might remember, we went there to check it out a couple of months ago...

because this spot is known for it's good fishing.

but the reservoir was on a draw-down back then...and it was just about bone dry!

it was supposed to be back up in april.

along the way, we passed a 'Longhorn' farm.

sam pulled over so i could get a few shots!

what beauties, huh?!

well, the water's back up!

and flowing!

there were lots of people fishing...and catching!

and lots of  birds too...happy to have the reservoir filled with food!

Cormorants

Cypress tree knees (roots) along the Ocklawaha river

buzzards...sunning & waiting for hand outs...

discarded fish carcasses i guess.

this one got tired of waiting and decided to try and sneak onto the fishing pier.

SO

we made reservations for the first weekend in may!

whether the bathroom is finished or not...

we're finally getting out of town!

(bathroom update: sheetrock up and primed & painted. shower pan in but not yet hooked up to the drain.)

there were some other birds flying...circling...hunting...overhead.

do you know what this bird is?

at first i thought maybe Shrike....or Osprey...

but after looking them up in my HUGE north american bird book...

i'm just not sure. 

the Shrike has a band through the eye...

but doesn't seem to wrap around like this one does.

maybe these birds are juvenile Ospreys???!!!!

also...i guess just the fact that they are hanging around the lake...means Osprey is more probable.

any ideas?

anyway...

we are excited!  yeah!  camping and fishing.

not this coming weekend, but the one after.

now

i don't mind

if

T I M E

flies.

stay cool. be safe.

laura

( i still have some catching up to do in blogland.

i'm home between appointments and thought i'd get this posted before it becomes OLD news!)

morphing monday - 2 (mOO-mOO)

every monday. 

one of my 'nature shots'...altered with picassa, gimp or fast stone imaging.

“Who was the first guy that looked at a cow and said, 

"I think that I'll drink whatever comes out of those things when I squeeze them?”     

~ Calvin & Hobbes quotes 

way down upon the suwannee river...

a dragonfly resting on shovel handle out back.

Buckeye Butterfly

 ☼

every time i hear the name of that river...the Suwannee,

i can hear  ♪ ♪ 'Way down upon the Suwannee River...' ♪ ♪   playing in my head.

(well...it's better than hearing dueling banjos from 'Deliverance'....huh?!)

on saturday, we went for a drive...only about a 45 minute drive...

to where the old Lake City RR bridge crosses the Suwannee River.

 

we were hoping the water would be low enough to get down and wander

the river basin...in search of old bones, artifacts...cool stones...rocks.

BUT WAIT!   let me back track a little.

on the way up there, along Hwy 441...just before you get to small town Alachua...

we passed a local produce stand that's been there forever!

THAT DAY i had my camera with me...and sam did a U-ey

so i could snap pictures of these misspelled signs!

 ACEPTING is missing a 'C'.  

(EBT stands for Electronic Benefits Transfer. it's Florida's government

food stamp assistance)

fresh cut collards, mustards...

and don't forget to TURNUP the volume!?

(turnips)

☼

OK...back on the road...we made it to the Suwannee...

off US Hwy 41, just south of White Springs.

as we hoped, the water was pretty low! 

usually all the rock you see here...is under water!

we walked along the exposed rock...limestone...

peering into the holes...or cavities, 

which have worn away over time from the rushing river.

as the water churns up the bottom...small stones...artifacts...debris...

can get trapped in these crevices in the rock.

 

the Suwannee River rises in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia...

and runs south for over 240 miles...until it empties into the 

Gulf of Mexico in the small town of Suwannee, Florida.

(Slider Turtle soaking up the sun)

the Suwannee River's DARK..tea colored water...is because it flows through

forested swamps, picking up decaying vegetation.

(a Little Blue Heron...also enjoying the sun & running water)

(weathered wood at the edge of the water)

(looking under a large limestone rock)

 

(a damsel fly)

so with heavy pockets...we headed back to the truck.

we didn't find any old bones...or artifacts. but we did pick up

a few OLD shells!  SO old in fact...they're like rock!
we found petrified wood...fossilized shells and coral...from long ago...

when most of florida was covered by the earth's oceans!

☼

on our way back to the main road we passed bunches of Coreopsis wildflowers. 

the Coreopsis is Florida's state wildflower!

you can see these bright yellow blooms all along the roadsides and in fields.

☼

heading south down Hwy 41...toward home...

we passed some florida long horn cattle! well, probably originally from texas...

sam did another U-ey so i could get a couple of pictures!

...and a here's a Gopher Tortoise digging his burrow...on the side of the road...

Gopher Tortoises belong to a group of land tortoises that originated

in North America 60 million years ago!

in florida they're considered endangered and threatened.

☼

back home...we put our collections together and rinsed everything off.

look closely at this piece of coral (you can enlarge).

it amazes me when i hold something like this...to feel it in my hands...

thinking about how old it is...and what the earth was like when this 

coral was alive...in the ocean.

and all the little long skinny pieces...

like stone...but what are they? petrified wood? coral? 

whatever! i could do this every day! 

hike...explore...search for treasures...

but we need to pay the bills.  :)

thanks for stopping by...and wandering...

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”  

~Winne the Pooh, AA Milne

stay cool. 

have a safe journey & enjoy the ride.

:] laura

OH YEAH...REMINDER...i made a MISSPELLED SIGN page...up there

at the top...under the header. IF YOU HAVE A sign pic...email it to me with 

where it was taken...and i'll add it to the page with credit to YOU!

☼

((i'm going to try and get on here and post again...SOON!

i have so many pictures i've taken around the yard lately...

snake, woodpecker, hawk, more assassin bugs, frog, butterflies, spider...

my camera is out of breath!))

p e a c e

lk