I took this from a kayak launch just before the bridge to Anna Maria Island. This little guy was out feeding alone but I’m sure he knew where the others in his flock were. These waters are shallow enough that you could walk several hundred yards out with your fishing pole, as long as you keep track of the tide. Kind of a nice way to end the day.
Empty Pier in the Afternoon
I came here to walk yesterday evening. This is the pier in St Petersburg Florida which is empty while the planners decide how to fix it up. In the meantime it’s still a great place to walk or ride with the cool breeze of the bay on a hot afternoon. I love empty open places in the middle of a busy city. A few steps away from the noise and you have a place of quiet and solitude.
Sunset Fishing
Perhaps because I live in Florida one of my main subjects are sunsets. Good sunsets can be a little elusive. Only about half of the time I go out do I even get one due to offshore cloud layers. And then much less than half of those are what I’d call “good ones”. Maybe it’s like fishing, you’ll usually get a nibble and occasionally get fish. But if you keep doing it you eventually get the “big one”. I hope the fisherman in this photo was as lucky as me.
Lone Palm in Myakka
A lone Palm in an open field in central Florida’s Myakka State Park. These open spaces are necessary for the ecology so its nice we have parks where nature can thrive.
Down the Garden Path
Bok Tower Gardens in central Florida has these paths all around the property that lead from one garden to the next. Fortunately these big Oaks provide plenty of shade which is a hot commodity this time of year. (No pun intended.)
Rush Hour at the Pier
This was taken around rush hour on a Friday evening. Only I have no idea what the traffic was like because I was here. This was about the most stress free place I can think of. It’s a remote pier in a remote park that looks out on to the Gulf of Mexico. Even the seabirds were relaxed as they waited for morsels from the fishermen. This is one of those spots I like to come to from time to time because no matter what, I’m always going home more relaxed than I came.
Bowmans Beach
I found Bowman’s beach by accident and even though we were driving home we stopped and stayed for about an hour to relax along the shore. It was Sunday and no one was in a hurry to go anywhere. Our timing was good because about an hour after I took this thunderstorms moved in and everything turned dark and grey. That’s fairly typical and after about twenty minutes or so it blows away and everything returns to normal.
Weekend at the Beach
The weekend is finally here, I thought it would never come. Not that I have a lot of hair, nevertheless, time to let it down, kick back and enjoy some much needed R and R. I don’t know about you but I would love for my weekend to be uneventful, not a lot of stuff going on. I think there was a lot of that going on here in Boca Grande last weekend when I took this at the beach. Yup, just a whole lotta nothin.
Shaded Bench
A bench in the shade outside the Ringling Museum in Sarasota Florida. I come here from time to time to take pictures of the manicured grounds. This was a particularly hot day and I thought this bench was well placed under the shade of a Banyan. There are a lot of trees here so it makes wandering the grounds a bit easier in summer. They also have ice cold lemonade at a snack bar under one of the largest Banyans in the region. Where would we be without Banyans.
Gasparilla Island Lighthouse
Today we took a little trip down the west coast of Florida to Boca Grande and Gasparilla Island. This lighthouse was built in 1932 and is long past it’s prime. To be sure it’s still sturdy enough to withstand hurricanes all these years. Anyway, I did my best to block out the sun with the support frame. The heat and humidity is pretty intense but within a few minutes there was a rain shower which momentarily dropped the temperature about ten degrees. Fifteen minutes later the rain passed and heat returned. A typical afternoon in Boca Grande.