FLYING

" 'Will you walk a little faster' said a whiting to a snail

'There's a porpoise close behind us,

And he's treading on my tail.' "

~Lewis Carroll

I'm not normally a fan of wildlife in captivity, but the dolphins at the Gulfarium can no longer be returned to wild. My niece and nephew were excited to see the dolphins up close and were charmed by the antics of these lovely mammals, as was I. 

SKY COTTON

"There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds."

~G.K. Chesterton

As the temperatures soar, and the summer heat rises from the earth, the most wonderful clouds appear in the sky. I never tire of looking at them or trying to interpret them.

LET'S PLAY BALL!

"The dog was created specially for children. He is the god of frolic."

- Henry Ward Beecher

A day in the life of my Dakota. She loves to play catch--in the water. She'll swim and retrieve until your arm is about to fall off. I give out long before she does. This day she was playing with my son and he had more stamina than I. Dakota gave up first. 

Hey, I know. Let's play ball.

Okay. I'm ready. What are you waiting for?

Here we go. Yippee!

Closing in.

I did good, huh.

That was fun, but I'm pooped.

GIMME SHELTER

"Gimme, gimme shelter 

Or I'm gonna fade away... ."

~Rolling Stones

DOUBLE HIBISCUS

"When words escape, flowers speak."

~Bruce W. Currie

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

These are pictures of the Gulf taken from the air by Katie King, a Pensacola News Journal photographer.
At the time of the taking of these pictures, the "large and colorful oil plumes can be seen floating near the surface of the water about 6 - 10 miles south of Pensacola Pass on Friday afternoon. According to Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection, the plum is two miles wide and stretches 40 miles into the Gulf."

Pensacola Pass is the entry to our bays (Pensacola Bay, Escambia Bay, East Bay, and all our bayous and rivers.

This is what's heading our way.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

SKY PAINTING

"At sunset, Nature is painting for us

Day after day

Pictures of infinite beauty."

~John Ruskin

This was the sunset a couple of days ago. Despite the trouble in the Gulf, each sunset is a special gift that makes me grateful to be here. 

PALMS

Next to ye both I love the Palm,
With his leaves of beauty, his fruit of balm;

            Next to ye both I love the Tree

              Whose fluttering shadow wraps us three

                With love, and silence, and mystery!

      - Bayard Taylor, The Arab to the Palm