Snapshots of a Sunday Afternoon

Exploring God's beautiful creation with my mother was a wonderful way to spend Sunday afternoon. From woodlands to seashore, our local nature reserve is my solace for living in Florida.


I haven't walked in the nature reserve since Thanksgiving, and I was delighted with the evidence of changing seasons. As my dad remarked at church in the morning, "Well, the oak leaves are falling off -- it must be Spring." Yes, we have to take what we get in Florida: scrubby trees and sand (lots of it). But I am discovering that there is beauty even here; that Florida is not the barren wasteland I once thought it was. You just have to know where to look.



Perhaps this little fellow doesn't fall under the classification of "beauty," but I found him charming, anyway. He did not quite like the idea of me shoving my camera lens within a few inches of his corpulent person, but he stayed still long enough for me to take a few shots:



Wisteria. The very name breathes an air of mystery and beauty. I found a tiny little vine with just one clump in bloom. In a few weeks, there will be beautiful masses of it where it has taken over in our area. What a heavenly scent wisteria has!








Of course, no woodland scene would be complete without some fungus. Nothing says fairies and tree gnomes as much as these curious little discs.








Within a few yards of the woods there is a thin strip of yellow beach. We took advantage of this on our return. The water lapped up against the shore in gentle waves. A few clumps of glimmering, jeweled seaweed had washed up.



And who should we find keeping us company? A snowy egret, busy fishing for his dinner:



He was none too thrilled to be followed, and as soon as we got too close he unfurled his wings and flew further along the shore:



Purple seems to be the wildflower color of choice at this time of year; I saw at least six varieties of flower in varying shades of purple. How anything can grow in sand is beyond me, but I am certainly grateful that rich topsoil is not required for every kind of flower!

The air was clean and dry last night, delightfully free of Summer's muggy humidity. I could not get my fill of it, no matter how deeply I inhaled the woody scents. I know better than to take it for granted -- there will be times this summer when I would do anything for one clear gulp of air. But I don't want to think about summer right now (unless as an excuse for more sewing). Right now, it's Spring. And Spring is fine with me.