Happy Holidays!

My grandson decorating his family Christmas tree. I hate to do this, but I'm going to have to put my blog on vacation again. The holidays have kind of crept up on me and I'll also be spending part of that time in the windy city of Chicago so I can remind myself why I like living in sunny Florida. Best wishes to you and yours and I will see you next year!

Mobile Employment

I noticed this truck parked downtown a couple of weeks ago before the annual Veteran's Day Parade.

Big Old Trees

These gorgeous old live oaks are located not far from my house and I had never seen them before. Of course I had to stop and take a picture.

Weekend Reflections

You have to look hard (or click on the picture and enlarge) to see the reflections in the windows at the top of this building downtown. Visit Weekend Reflections to see more wonderful reflections from around the world.

SkyWatch Friday

I love how the shadows look in this picture and also that amazing blue sky! Don't forget to visit SkyWatch Friday.

Dwarfed

My granddaughter looks quite small sitting on the roots of this old oak tree downtown.

Watery Wednesday

This cute little fish was spouting off at the Tallahassee Museum. More wonderful watery pictures can be seen at Watery Wednesday.

A Little More Fall

Even though it comes a little bit later for us, Tallahassee is just far enough north for us to get some fall color. Notice the trees in the background are still green though.

North Florida Fall

I liked the way these red leaves looked in the sunlight. The Spanish moss adds such a nice touch too, don't you think?

Camera Critters

This friendly "cow" gave me a thumbs up in front of my grandchildren's favorite place to eat. He might not be a real critter, but I thought he was cute. Visit Camera Critters to see some real critters from around the world.

Weekend Reflections

The windows of these tour buses provided some nice reflections as I walked by. Enjoy more fabulous reflections by visiting James at Weekend Reflections.

SkyWatch Friday

The morning sun peeking out from behind Spanish moss covered branches of an oak tree in the parking lot of the Leon County Public Library downtown. To see more beautiful skies from around the world, don't miss SkyWatch Friday.

Taking another break....

I hope all of my wonderful followers will please be patient with me while I take another break from my blog for awhile. I'm just so overwhelmed with recent events and my work that I can't give it the proper attention it deserves. Thank you for understanding.

Fire Station

I noticed this cute little fire station near downtown Havana last weekend while we were attending the Pumpkin Festival. As you can see, we had beautiful weather that day.

Weekend Reflections

I was getting ready to wash some dishes after dinner one night last week and I found this baby anole sitting behind my sink. It took me awhile to catch it, but I finally did and set it free outside my back door. If you look closely in the chrome of the faucet handle, you can see my reflection as I took his picture. To see more awesome reflections from around the world, visit James at Weekend Reflections.

Goodbye Sweet Friend

 

My dear kitty Gracie passed away this week. She was such a good companion and I miss her terribly.

Yard of the Month

I noticed this beautiful old house in Havana last weekend as I was walking back to my car. The sign in front says "Yard of the Month".

Hamsters Water Balls

My grandson's favorite activity at the Havana Pumpkin Festival was Hamsters Water Balls. My grandson is the one in the green shirt on the right side of the picture. To see more wonderful watery pictures, be sure to visit Watery Wednesday.

Dog in costume

This little cutie was all dressed up for the costume contest at the Havana Pumpkin Festival last weekend. Havana is a small town just a short drive north of Tallahassee.

Tobacco Outlet

The parking lot of this place always seems to be full.

Fishing

This egret was hanging out at Lake Ella while my grandson and I were feeding bread to the ducks. We thought he was eating the bread too, but then we noticed he was much smarter than that. He was waiting for the tiny fish in the lake to feed on the bread and then snatching them up for his lunch. I really tried to get a shot of him eating a fish, but he was too quick!

Dry Cypress Swamp

Earlier this week I mentioned that we have had a severe lack of rain this year and you can tell that is true by looking at these cypress trees. If you look at their trunks, you can see where the waterline usually is. We actually got a few days of rain this week, but it will take quite a bit more to bring this swamp back to normal.

Cow

They also have farm animals on display at the Tallahassee Museum. This cow was enjoying a late afternoon hay snack.

Red Wolf

This red wolf looks almost like he is posing for a picture. He really blends in well with his surroundings. There are two of them at the Tallahassee Museum.

White Squirrel

Every time we visit the Tallahassee Museum, we see at least one white squirrel. You have to be quick to get a picture though because they move pretty fast!

Me and the Gator

This big gator was taking a nap right under the elevated walkway through the swampy area of the Tallahassee Museum. Due to the lack of rain we have had this year, this area is not under water like it usually is. That is my shadow standing over the alligator in the first picture. Click on the pictures to enlarge, if you want a better view of this amazing animal.

Black Vulture

This week I will be showing pictures of some of the Florida wildlife on display at the Tallahassee Museum. We have a family membership and my daughter and I took my grandkids there over the weekend. This black vulture was sitting on the ground right next to the fence and didn't seem to mind me taking his picture.

Iron Fence

Old City Cemetery is surrounded by an iron fence. I like the way the Spanish moss drapes itself over the fence. Parts of the cemetery are higher than others and in the second shot you can see how the graves are at eye level as you walk down the sidewalk on the south side of the cemetery.

SkyWatch Friday

Believe it or not, I took this picture on the same day I took all of the photos of Old City Cemetery that are being shown on my blog this week. The blimp was in town to cover the FSU football game and could be seen flying over the campus all afternoon. I couldn't believe it when it flew directly over my head. To see more fascinating skies from around the world, don't miss SkyWatch Friday.

Family Plot

Several different types of markers grouped together near the east entrance to Old City Cemetery.

Confederate graves and some kind of little stump creature

This section of Old City Cemetery is devoted to Confederate soldiers. There is a section for Union soldiers which looks very similar to this on the other side of the cemetery. I guess they didn't want to bury them too close together! In the lower left corner of the first picture, you can see the pruned stump of a little tree. The second picture is a closeup of the same stump from a different angle. It looks like a little animal with a horn, an eye, and even a sly little smile on its face to me. Click on it to enlarge and tell me if I'm imagining things!

More Old City Cemetery

I took all of these pictures near the east entrance of Old City Cemetery after I saw the "no trespassing" warning sign posted by the Tallahassee Police Department. It's probably due to vandalism, which is a shame. I think it is interesting the way some of the family plots are fenced and even have gates as you can see in the second shot. In the third picture, it looks like someone tried to slide the stone covering right off of one of the graves. This place would be really spooky at night! You can click on any of these pictures and enlarge them to get a better view.

Old City Cemetery

Old City Cemetery is the oldest public cemetery in Tallahassee. It was established in 1829 and is located near downtown and right across the street from where I work. It contains graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers, victims of the yellow fever epidemic of 1841, and some notable figures in Tallahassee history. I recently took a walk around the cemetery and this week I will be showing a few pictures from that day.

Camera Critters

This little tree frog was riding out the rain and wind from Tropical Storm Lee a couple of weeks ago on my back door. He was watching me very closely while I was taking his picture. Isn't that tiny little face adorable? To see more cute critters from around the world, visit Camera Critters.

Weekend Reflections

While standing behind the band at the FSU game last weekend, I noticed some tuba reflections! To see more interesting reflections from around the world, visit Weekend Reflections.

SkyWatch Friday

A plane and a crane in the clear blue late summer sky. To see more wonderful skies from around the world, visit SkyWatch Friday.

Bus Station

The Greyhound Bus Station has been at this location for as long as I can remember. In fact, when I was a college student (back in the olden days) and couldn't find a ride home with one of my friends, I used to ride the bus from Tallahassee to Jacksonville. It took forever though because the bus took the scenic route instead of the interstate and stopped in every little town along the way.

Watery Wednesday

Closeup of the Westcott fountain at the main gate of the Florida State University campus. To see more wonderful watery shots from around the world, visit Watery Wednesday.

Leader of the Band

FSU played a home football game last Saturday and one of the things I like to do on game days is attend the Marching Chiefs warmup session just before they march into the stadium. Here you can see the head drum major on the podium conducting the band, while the two assistant drum majors stand on either side of him. He was conducting a beautiful version of the Battle Hymn of the Republic which was part of their halftime show honoring the victims of 9/11. The Marching Chiefs is the largest college marching band in the world with membership comprised from almost every academic department within the University. My daughter and son-in-law were both members of the Marching Chiefs while they were undergraduate students at FSU.

Interesting Proposal

The plaza that surrounds the Westcott fountain on the FSU campus is paved with commemorative bricks inscribed with the names of FSU alumni, friends and family. I noticed this particular brick while taking a lunch time walk. It looks like a new addition to the plaza. If you are having trouble reading it, just click on the picture to enlarge. I hope she said yes!

Remembering 9/11

 

Today is the 10th anniversary of one of the worst days in the history of the United States. I'm posting this picture of our beautiful flag to honor all who were lost on that terrible day. The second two pictures are from a visit to New York City that I took with my kids in December 1991, ten years before the attacks. The middle shot shows a much younger me on the ferry going from Liberty Island back to Battery Park with the twin towers behind me. On that day, we rode the elevator all the way to the top of Tower 2 in the World Trade Center. The third shot is of me standing in front of a window at the top of Tower 2 with a view of the city behind me. You can see part of Tower 1 through the window on the left side of the picture. That is my daughter in the red jacket sitting on the floor in front of me. I still have the souvenir t-shirt that I bought at the gift shop up there. Please forgive the quality of these pictures (and the fashion!), as they were taken with a 35mm film camera and they are 20 years old!