first bloom & critters- both breathing and not.

ONE of the nice things about the cooler weather (even here in north florida)...

is that i can walk around and NOT get unexpectedly smacked 

in the face by a spiderweb.

i don't know how they do it. these banana spiders are web-building machines...

spanning their webs from one tree to another...

invariably in my path! 

(this intricate web picture was taken last  year. 

i didn't run into it. at least not THAT day anyway.)

ANOTHER nice thing about the cooler weather...is that i don't sweat!

not that sweating bothers me. it's good to sweat. we rid our bodies of toxins.

but i am a real sweater! and not the fuzzy kind! it's just embarrassing.

in the summer  it can top out around 100 °...and if i'm outside for a mere 5 minutes...

i look like i just got out of the pool...fully dressed. but we don't have a pool! 

the cooler weather also brings the changing of the leaves...

from green to brilliant fire colors! i love it!

then after the leaves have fallen to the ground...

we rake them up into big piles

and have nightly bonfires! 

OK.  what i DON'T like about the cooler weather

is that some of the little critters...

the vast array of insects, lizards, snakes, frogs...disappear. 

they dig into the dirt. bury themselves...hide in dead trees...roots...

until it starts to warm up. i miss all these little guys.

of course we still have the squirrels, red shouldered hawks, owls, deer and foxes.

they hang around all year!   

the nocturnal creatures hang around all year too...

the raccoons, 'possoms, armadillos... 

I WISH i could get a good picture of one of these night time animals...

but my camera is not a really good one...with interchangeable lenses...

so i can't zoom in and do a good night time shot. 

BUT we did find a dead 'possum behind one of the sheds...

gave him a decent burial. 

and, yes, you guessed it...only to be dug up at some point...for the bones!

(he looks like he's sleeping. or playing 'possom as 'possoms do)

here's a poor little lizard (anole) 

who thought he had found the perfect spot to get away from the cold...

inside an old grill. i guess he squeezed his way in, 

and then couldn't get back out.

<<>>

SO,  the weather's starting to 

warm up a little during the day.into the 70's. 

the day after valentine's day...

i spotted a few lizards...creeping out of their hiding places 

to soak up some sun.

yeah! the first lizards of the year!

(anole on a tool box)

(anole between wood frame and screen )

(a fence lizard)

that same day i noticed buds on the azaleas...

and some new leaf growth starting on many of the plants!

and even a few flowers!! another first for the year!

(daffodil)

We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, 

and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.  

-Robert Louis Stevenson

i found another owl pellet...and took my first picture of an eastern bluebird...

(i've never seen that bird around here before.)

sam is crawling around under the house because we can smell something...dead. ugh!

i passed another MISSPELLED sign on my way to a client the other day.

BUT...i think i've rambled on enough for one day. 

more on all that next time...have to get ready for an appointment.

<<>>

oh boy oh boy. next holiday - St Patty's Day.

i love that one. almost as much as halloween!

wear green.

green beer. green eggs and ham.

corned beef and cabbage.

leprechauns.

lucky four leaf clovers...

take it easy. stay cool.

:] laura

here's a quote i came across...thought it was good...

nothing to do with nature...or the forest...  :))

There are three reasons for breast-feeding:  

the milk is always at the right temperature; 

it comes in attractive containers; 

and the cat can't get it.  

~Irena Chalmers 

ok,  i'm outa here...    :]

here's lookin' at you...kid!

my thoughts on mirrors.

when did they all become carnival mirrors?
i've always felt young. looked young. thought young.
is it because this past august i moved a little closer to s...si...six...sixt...
'OH, go ahead, spit it out!'
this year i turned f...fif...fiftys...fifty-seven! *groan*
it's hard for those numbers to even cross my lips.

57. it sounds so...old.
i don't FEEL 57. but what is 57 supposed to feel like?

thinking back...the changes really started being noticeable at around 50.
hmmmm...changes...eyesight. difficulty driving at night. disappearance of my washboard tummy . a few gray hairs. a wrinkle here...there...
love handles...ha! they sound nice...but if i wanted handles, i would've screwed them on myself!
looser skin. dryer skin. *groan*
it definitely takes some getting used to.
those xtra trips to the bathroom during the night.
it takes a little longer to get out of bed and moving in the morning. sometimes i feel like i spent the night working out...i'm so sore in the AM.

anyway...i'm handling it. i just don't spend too much time in front of those damn circus mirrors that have seemed to magically replace all the old mirrors we used to have!

i plan to just keep on doing what i'm doing.
i feel good. eat good. work. hike. read. write. do my art stuff...
i'll try not to dwell on the fact that i don't have as many years left as i've already been through.
i'm (im)patiently waiting until i can retire!! 'til i can spend my time doing whatever i want, whenever i want.
'til i can throw all the clocks out...who cares what time it is...i have all the time in the world!  :]

Don't let yesterday use up too much of today.  ~Cherokee Indian Proverb 

i love to wander outside.
every time i walk around...i see new things. flowers blooming. insects. lizards. fungi.
it's all just so amazing. i take pictures. lots of 'em.
it's always hard to decide which ones to post.  enjoy!  :)

butterflies...dragonflies...are my favorite things to take pictures of. oh, flowers too. and lizards. and spiders and their amazing & intricate webs....  :-\

the other day...home between appointments...i heard the red-shouldered hawks out back. there's a nest in one of the pine trees out front and you can hear the whole family...making their hawk sounds and flying from tree to tree! every day! i was lucky to get a couple of pretty good shots of one of the hawks.

~In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.~ John Muir

this 'southern cricket frog'

looks a little hung over...

strange looking fungi/mushroom....

~ Butterflies are graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable. Butterflies lead you to the sunny side of life. And everyone deserves a little sunshine.~  Jeffrey Glassberg 

the gardenia bush is blooming (again)!! i love that scent...

while wandering out back...i found another feather...from the red-shouldered hawk...and spotted milo passed out on the back porch...

well...i hope you enjoyed your wander around with me...

and i hope that the mirrors you look into...will not be one of those mirrors from the 'fun-house'!!

The aging process has you firmly in its grasp 

if you never get the urge to throw a snowball.  ~Doug Larson

oh! i do i do...well, i would i would...but i live in florida!   BUT  if we had a freak snowfall, i'd be right out there...making snowballs & snow angels!

OH YEAH! i almost forgot! my niece's husband keeps emailing me these REALLY cool pictures that he finds out there in cyberspace...and i wanted to post a couple. these are both dew covered insects. a dragonfly upper body and a fly.

be safe. stay cool. 'til next time,  laura  :]

my little slice of nature

today's my third day back to work since vacation.  my appointments aren't 'til this afternoon so i have a little time to spend here.

the last stop on our vacation was at Stephen Foster St Pk in white springs, FL. we've been to that park lots of times...they have a bat house there...a couple of years ago we rode our bikes there just after dusk...to wait for the bats to emerge. wow! they POURED out of there.  i had taken a couple of movies with our camera...it's a little dark (after dusk!)  but pretty cool if you've never seen bats from this perspective. it's only like 45 seconds long. i hope you can view it!

after watching this old bat video...i got to thinking about bats...i know we have them here...cause there's a cool bat house at UF. hmmmmm...maybe i'll ask sam if he wants to build a bat house out back...sounds like it could be a pretty cool project. like we don't have enough to do!

i just hope i remember to ask him before he reads it here...  :]

i found a site where you can buy an already made one, or construct your own: 

http://www.batcon.org/index.php/get-involved/install-a-bat-house.html

i have ONE picture of a TEENY WEENY bat from years back when we went to the florida state caverns. the bat was curled up on the ceiling in one of the cavern rooms.

he's upside down...

since we've been home, i've been 'snapping away...hope you enjoy my side of nature. :)

the gulf fritillary butterfly. usually 2 or 3 at the same time on the lantana.

Flowers and butterflies drift in color, illuminating spring.  ~Author Unknown 

~the meeting of the minds~

hmmm...where shall we start...should we split up? we can divide this plant into three...

(stink bugs)

Life's a journey, not a destination.  ~Aerosmith 

wow!!!  what a gorgeous emerald dragonfly!!  usually i see the bluish ones...not THIS!!  so cool! look at those markings!!

this web looks like very well lived in...uh...on!!

banana spider...and baby

well...better run...

let's keep our eyes & minds open...

It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision. ~   Helen Keller 

take care. stay cool.   laura  :]

excerpts from the road. part one.

...just when i thought i was finally getting over being without internet...phone...texting...here i am! back to reality! (if you read my last post from aug. 10th, then you know we took off to go camping for 2 weeks).

it all began (and ended) on a HOT MUGGY day in North Central Florida. driving in and out of dark gloomy skies. rain. pine forests and logging trucks. chicken farms. hunt clubs. cows and goats.  FIRST STOP, Torreya State Park, overlooking the apalachicola river (in Bristol, the north eastern area of Florida's panhandle).

Torreya is one of eight state parks in Florida that was built by the 'Civilian Conservation Corps' (or the CCC) from 1933 to 1942. The Great Depression...one out of every four workers was out of work. President Roosevelt's solution was to create New Deal Agencies, one of which was the CCC, to help employ young men between the ages of 17 and 25. they earned thirty dollars a month. twenty-five was sent home to their families. the young men enrolled in the CCC lived in camps that were constructed throughout the country.

in florida alone...in nine years...the "CCC boys" planted 18,924,000 trees, constructed 3,620 miles of trails and roads, built 2,736  bridges, spent 97,993 worker-days fighting fires, and developed 8 state parks. 

some of the buildings still standing today in the parks we visited...are such beautifully constructed stone buildings...as you'll see in the pictures to come.

ok, so here we are...Torreya State Park...

i'm a bug magnet. 

actually, sam's more of a bug magnet than me. he's getting bitten all the time. if there's a mosquito...yellow fly around...they'll seek him out!  i'm not usually bothered. but this vacation...we were both covered like patchwork with caladryl lotion!  i'm not sure what kind of bug this is...looks like a stink bug.

mark of a lightning strike running down a pine tree.















  raccoon family we were lucky enough to spot on one of our afternoon wanderings around the park...

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.  The next best time is now.  ~Chinese Proverb 

two caterpillars...centipedes...??  curled up together. mating?? or just hugging??

Half the fun of the travel is the esthetic of lostness.  ~Ray Bradbury 

milo...the camping cat...making sure the picnic table is...comfortable enough...

Butterflies are self propelled flowers.  ~R.H. Heinlein 

well...i don't want to bombard you with too much at once. 

i'll take a break. you take a break. 

part two...later this evening or tomorrow morn.

next stop...Oak Mountain State Park in Alabama!!  

in the meantime...stay cool...

and don't let the bedbugs bite (esp if u live in NY)...i'm sorry. that was uncalled for...(i just couldn't resist...)

laura   :)

OH YEAH!!!!!  and a PS - THANK YOU to all those people who stopped by and visited here...and left comments...while i was away!! it thrills me...to know that there are so many others out there...who appreciate all these little things of nature...

life's a garden. dig it.