FAIRY IRIS

"If you pass by the color purple in a field and don't notice it, God gets real pissed off."

~Alice Walker

 

 



SITTING ON THE DOCK OF THE BAY...

 

 

Sittin' in the mornin' sun
I'll be sittin' when the evenin' come
Watching the ships roll in
And then I watch 'em roll away again, yeah

I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time

~Otis Redding

 

BAY ARCHITECTURE

“A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.”
― Frank Lloyd Wright

 

 

SOFT SUNSET

Yesterday was a day of dark clouds and a little rain. Didn't have much hope for a lovely sunset, but Mother Nature can always surprise us. The water was almost like glass and as we slowly sliced through the water, the sky put on quite a show.

 Pelican in silhouette

 

Pretty reflections 

 Clouds in the water

 

Fire and water

NO TURTLES

Nest sat a loggerhead sea turtle nest last night hoping for a hatching. Unfortunately, no turtles peaked their heads through the sand, but the evening sky was lovely.

 





WHAT GOES UP...

“No one knows. Fires burn, the sky is blue and mullet jump.”

~Unknown

One of the most popular and interesting fish here in northwest Florida is the mullet. Fishermen throw their cast nets from every available surface from bridges, docks, boats and even while wading in shallow waters. Mullet can be identified by their propensity to leap out of the water, sometimes jumping five or six times before they make their final splash down--not unlike skipping stones. Why you may ask do they jump out of the water? Well there are an infinite number of theories, but the one that seems to ring with the sound of truth is simply because they can. They may be escaping predators, or grabbing some air to breathe easier or as I read from one young person, they leap so they can see where they are going. :) Regardless of why, I have to admit to sitting by the water waiting for the familiar splash of a mullet landing after its brief time in the air. It's part of the sights and sounds of the bay. Not only are they entertaining, but the fish are pretty tasty too. Mullet can be fried, blackened, smoked and baked. I've had mullet blacked and I have to say it was very good. But my heart belongs to the staid, non-jumping red snapper. Yum.

 Up and away

 



Splash down.

SEA OATS

The sea oats are in full bloom and are swaying and bending with the breeze. On sunny days they catch the light and turn a lovely golden color as they dig deeply into the sand. Their massive root system is capable of holding sand in place during extreme weather such as hurricanes and tropical storms and is an important plant for shoreline protection. It also captures blowing sand and builds dunes, another layer of protection for the coastline.



 

RAINY DAY VISITORS

"Man has always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much...the wheel, New York, wars and so on.. while all the dolphins had ever done was much about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than...for precisely the same reason."

~Douglas Adams

It's been raining for days. Yesterday, a neighbor called and told me six pods of dolphins were making their way down to my end of the bay. So I donned my rain slicker, grabbed my golf umbrella and slung my camera around my neck and made my way down to the dock to wait for these rainy day visitors. It wasn't long before I saw the familiar dark triangles of fins slicing through the water. Unfortunately, they stayed a little farther offshore than my camera was capable of capturing clearly. But here are a few shots. They were following schools of fish and occasionally put on quite a show of rising and splashing in the water. Finally, the rain began to come down too hard and I had to abandon the dock. Still it was worth getting a little soggy to watch these graceful beings frolicking and splashing around. It was their summer picnic!

SEATING FOR TWO

"You can't just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood. ...

~Bill Watterson

This has been a summer of projects. All those things we have been talking about doing for ages are finally getting done. Well some of them anyway. One project that has just been completed was building a couple of Adirondack chairs for the dock. We needed something heavy enough not to blow away in our heavy winds, though we still tethered them and the table to the dock. Not to brag, but I think we did a pretty good job. I'll take credit for the easy stuff--design, color choice and painting and my dear husband gets credit for the construction--you know, the really hard, talented part. With the addition of an umbrella, we now have a comfortable place to enjoy our morning coffee and sunset cocktails without lugging folding chairs back and forth. It feels so good to check something off the to-do list. :)

 

 

Colorful shade.

 

 

 

 



A RELAXING DAY

Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air. 

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Saturday was a hot, humid day and we decided to take our chances--despite dark, threatening clouds to our north--and boat over to Ft. McRea for a little swimming, reading, napping and just generally enjoying a relaxing day. Those kinds of days are few and far between of late and it was just wonderful to float in the warm waters and enjoy the sea breezes. 

Cardinal flowers and sea oats.

Clouds continued to build all day, but the sun prevailed.

Meet Bella, the paddle boarding wonder. She and her owner paddled by several times and finally I had to ask to take her picture. A real cutie. 

All that exercise was exhausting!

And then we heard the calliope music and the Ice Cream Man appeared! In addition to cool treats he also was serving up hot peanuts, aka boiled peanuts--a southern delicacy.

It never did rain on us and we returned home much relaxed. Heading north again, we noticed that those dark clouds we left in the morning were still on the horizon. When we docked at home, it was evident that while we were gone, the garden got a good drenching. :) Looks like out decision to take a chance on the weather out on the Gulf was a good one.