Reflections on pond near Mud Lake, Palatka, FL

Florida Non-Florida Photos

Palatka, Palatka, St. Augustine, respectively. These are the vacation shots I love, though they could have been taken any number of places. Corky kept asking, "Why are you shooting that?"

Castillo de San Marcos

The Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida was built to protect and defend Spain's claims in the New World. It is now a national monument. This shows one of the walls inside the fort where you can see the beams for a ceiling showing through from an adjacent room. Construction began on this fort in 1672.

Reflections in the St. John River, Palatka, Florida

Slice of Lizard Back

Closer

I just wanted to show a closer look at this guy's eye. He is browner here, not having warmed up as much as the photo below. The colors were just amazing and they kept changing!

Lizard

This little guy was only about three inches long from his nose to the end of his broken tail. I found him hiding in a cold, dark corner in Corky's yard. He was plain brown until he sat in my warm hand for a while, and then all his colors came out. Isn't he good looking?
This is the first lizard I have ever seen "in the wild," let alone grabbed and held. Cool.

Florida

I just got back from a full week in Florida. What a wonderful time to escape Wisconsin, as our temperatures plunged to a depth affording the cancellation of school for two days in a row. Turns out Florida was entering its own cold snap. Whenever I think of flying, I can't help but start singing Alanis Morrisette's Ironic in my head, about the guy who waits all of his life to get on an airplane because he's afraid to fly, and, sure enough, his plane goes down. Well, my plane got there just fine (another one went down in the Hudson River on the same morning), but the weather sure sucked for a mid-winter trip intended to escape a cold clime. Thankfully, I had delightful company the entire time I was there, staying with a friend I met online. No lie. I flew down and stayed with strangers, at least real strangers, not virtual ones.
Corky and her husband Allan were very generous hosts, despite the fact that Allan is dying of cancer and Corky herself in remission. They instantly made me a part of the family, a large family which includes the two of them and their SIX miniature schnauzers: Bonnie, Sassy, Skeeter, Skippy, Libby and Zubee. My Lexie is in a "relationship" with their Zubee, which is partly how we met. See the profile from Dogster.com to the right of this page.
But it was a great time, the weather notwithstanding, and I am very glad I had the opportunity to visit with these new friends. We ate wonderful food, watched movies, played with the dogs, went shopping and sightseeing and even did a few geocaches. I loved it. I will be posting an assortment of photos as time allows, seeing as classes are again in session and I am already heaped with homework.
I shouldn't complain about having too much studying to do. It's so damn cold outside that I'm sitting tight and reading all day long anyway!

"If They Can Do It, What's Our Excuse?"

Domes Today

The Mitchell Park Conservatory, aka The Domes, has recently remodeled its lobby and today was the first time I went after the reopening. It was very crowded, so I left my tripod in the car and most of my lenses. I always regret that, but it was so crowded that I would have just gotten frustrated.

I will return on a "workday" and use the tripod next time.