Birds Above and Alligators Below

We went to the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine to see the birds in the natural bird sanctuary with many of the large birds nesting each year.   It is a beautifully landscaped zoo with wooden walkways, water ponds for all the alligators and crocodiles, and palm trees overhead, creating a tropical paradise experience.

Sunken Gardens

Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg has a beautiful collection of mature palm trees, bamboos and live oaks.  Walking under these trees is a wonderful experience - with the canopy overhead forming arbours.  This year, the Angel's Trumpet tree is blooming with dozens of large, apricot-coloured, sweetly scented blooms.  It was a beautiful canopy over one of the walkways, making for a delightful experience.

Farewell to the Sunrise

Every day is a different day Our month of sunrises is concluding today.  These are yesterday's spectacle.  The intensity of the coral pinks and reds on the water was an experience. I had thought that sunsets would be more intense than sunrises, and find science is right.  They are equally wonderful.  The beautiful skies concluded with great cloud cover that brought in winds and rain.   View this email in your browser

The Blue Trees Reach Florida

Blue Trees - this is an exhibit at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.  It was a great combination - the zoo had some stunning natural habitats, and then the crepe myrtle and magnolia trees have been painted with horticultural dye so that the trees stand out as sculptures in the gardens. The famous blue tree is by Claude Cormier and you can see it here.

St. Augustine's Prettiest Street

We drove down Magnolia Drive, known for its live oaks that arch over the street.  The Spanish Moss hanging from the branches waves gently giving the street a beautiful effect. And then there are the patterns in the sand that show at low tide.  While we have some plastic forms for sand castle-making, it hasn't been warm enough for any sitting in the sand.  For now, I'll stay with the patterns nature has been delivering.

Finding Feathers at the Fountain of Youth

St. Augustine boasts a long history  - Ponce de Leon landed in 1513.  As children we learned about his landing and discovery of the Fountain of Youth.  We visited the site yesterday.  It bills itself as Florida's oldest attraction. The site is the oldest successful European settlement in the U.S.  In the 1930's it was discovered to be the burial site of native American aboriginals known as the Timucua.  A bonus was a  flock of peacocks who inhabit the grounds.   Facebook Twitter Website

Pretty Florida Architecture

As I finished taking pictures of the sunrise, I heard a yell from the beach and the two very hardy and hearty young surfers had just jumped into the water.  The waves today are great long, rolling waves. They must be perfect for surfing even though the temperatures are cold this early in the morning.  A walk along the beach yesterday revealed where the dead tree had been moved to. l wonder where it is today.   View this email in your browser

Garden Ornaments Florida-Style

What do Florida gardens have for ornaments?     Across the the coastal highway is an older neighbourhood.  It looks like houses might have been built starting in the late forties and early fifties.  The new builds are going up, and they tend to be large.  Stylistically they fit into the seaside resort architecture theme.   These first two pictures show the old style.  I haven't seen a boat planter before or a permanent lemonade stand in a neighbourhood.  Maybe on the Toronto Islands, where there are no cars.  It is possible to imagine yourself in a 1920's or 1930's community with a slower life style. And with us being on the coast overlooking the ocean, there are endless pictures of the ocean to be taken.  These last pictures are the storm 2 days ago and yesterday's sunrise.  I didn't go out on the porch with the camera as it was so cold and windy yesterday morning.    And there's big surf and wind today too. I am up before the sunrise, so perhaps I will get to see the 5 planet lineup this week.  The clouds will want to blow away and bring some calmer days - the sound of the surf remains thunderous. View this email in your browser

Florida's Sunrise

This was yesterday's sunrise as it bounced off the sky looking north along the beach and then looking towards the sun as it rose in the sky.  The pinky coral colour was very pronounced. The progression of the day in pictures went:  Before Sun, Sun's Up, Surf's Up, Sails Up... I was told by a boater yesterday that this is unusual to have such windy weather and such waves.  He wasn't able to launch his boat because of the winds.  There were a few hardy athletes out on the water. I wondered about those trademark names like Kleenex and Windex as I was walking through the grocery store.  Here's my answer: An eponym is someone or something whose name is or is thought to be the source of something's name (such as a city, country, era, or product); alternately it can be used to refer to the name of something that is based on or derived from someone or something else's name. Albert Einstein is the eponym of the element einsteinium; conversely, einsteinium is an eponym of Albert Einstein. Active Trademarks Often Used Generically Alka Seltzer AstroTurf Band Aid Beer Nuts Benzedrine Boogie Board Breathalyzer Brillo Pad BVDs Chapstick (Chap Stick) Cheerios Claymation Coke (Coca Cola) Cola (Coca Cola) Cool-Aid (Kool-Aid) Cuisinart Demerol Ditto Machine Dixie Cups Dumpster Erector Set Fiberglass (Fiberglas) Fig Newtons Freon Frisbee Green Stamp Hacky Sack Hi-lighter (Hi-Liter) Hoover Hula-Hoop Jacuzzi Jeep Jello (Jell-O) Jockey Shorts Kitty Litter Kleenex Laundromat Levi's Life Savers Mace Magic Marker Microchip Novocain Oreo Palm Pilot Parcheesi (replacing the generic word "Pachisi") Ping Pong (replacing the generic term "Table Tennis") Play-Doh Plexiglas Polaroid Pop Tart Popsicle Post-It Note Q-Tip Rollerblade Roller Derby Scotch Tape Scrabble Sellotape Sheetrock Skivvies Styrofoam Super Glue Teflon Teleprompter (TelePrompTer) Teletype Teva Thermos TV Dinner Tylenol UNIX Valium Vaseline Velcro Walkman Welcome Wagon White Out (Wite-Out) Wiffle Ball Windbreaker X-Acto Knife Xerox View this email in your browser