My page has had a dearth of photos since I don't have a handy cam of any sort, though I will be using the INSTAMATIC (oy!) to try to snag some shots now and then to post. I did a search for free pics, and found some that represent what my area down here in Florida looks like on a good day. I figured everyone knows we have fabulous beaches and sunsets, so I passed over the Palm Tree and Sunset on the Beachfront ones and instead honed in on the lush vegetation that can still be found in many areas here.
Sure, there are the bulldozed areas that look like any other vacant dirt lot. There is a lot of overgrazed pasture, too, in the outlying areas. But if you leave Florida to itself long enough, you'll get what's in these photos.
I only moved here about 2 1/2 years ago, in the aftermath of Hurricand Charley. (Or is that Charlie?) The whole place looked beat up. You expect manmade structures to look damaged, and they certainly were...that is, the ones that remained. But the landscape took a mighty wallop, too. That was the sight that greeted us as our truck made the trek down the state. Not being used to seeing ANY palm trees, palmettos, or tropical plants growing freely in the outdoors, I was wondering what all the fuss was about...it was certainly not what I'd thought of as tropical beauty. My husband kept reiterating the fact that this is not how this normally looks. "It's usually so thick with green that you can't see through the trees," he said. "This is nothing like true Florida."
Still being reluctant and homesick for my home state of Tennessee at the time, I was grumpy about the whole thing. Give me a choice between beach or mountains and mountains it is for me. My daughter chooses beach :)
Well, he was right. The first year, everything was still pretty ragged. The palm trees were limp and halfhearted, looking like a teenage boy trying to grow his first straggle of a mustache. But now, 2 1/2 years later, creation has rebounded and it's lush again. I can't imagine what it will be like in 2 1/2 more years. The landforms themselves still lack the rolling hills and personality I'm used to in a more northern state. But the plants...oh, NO complaints there! Water has its charm, too, and wetlands, though I don't want to live ON one, are simply beautiful.
Anyway, I posted a few copyright-free pics to give folks an idea of what it's like around where I live here. My current home is on a lot in an area where residences are displacing slash pine and palmetto forests. Immediately around my house are nothing but tall palmettos and clumps that hug the ground, slash pines, and tall burnt pine logs sticking upright into the air after a burn that must have happened well before we moved here.
I'll find some other ways to post pics here, but till then, these are a little taste of my place. The oaks, though few and far between, really do have hanging moss, and all the green trees and plants are full of teeming life. Stir in water and wading birds and herons and it's tranquil...and lovely.
(Especially in the cool before the mosquitos want to share the view) :)
Alright, all for now. More pics later. Let's see how the INSTAMATIC (oy) does. I tried taking some shots of the recipes I made last week. We'll see if it's up to it. It might be a series of "Hey, Vern!" bread shots, or up so close that the foreground is a blur and the background is in focus.
Lessee... :)
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