Rubber Neck

I took these pictures of this great egret looking for a meal on a cloudy afternoon at the edge of Lake Ella. I am putting my blog on a break for awhile starting tomorrow. All is well, I just have some fun plans coming up and I need to get ready. See you soon!

Linking to my some of my favorite weekend memes as they become available: Saturday's Critters, Camera Critters, and The Bird D'Pot.

Fence in the woods

I almost missed seeing the fence as I was passing by this trail. I didn't go that way though because I was by myself and I don't like to venture into heavily wooded areas like that alone.

Linking to Good Fences.

Scavenger Hunt

While out on one of my walks last weekend, I noticed lots of kids and parents hurrying around excitedly with maps. I couldn't figure out what was going on until I saw this sign. I looked online to find that in order to participate, all you had to do was visit your local branch of the county library and pick up your "scavenger hunt treasure map" featuring county parks, local cultural institutions, and locally-owned restaurants where participants had opportunities to earn prizes while following the map. The purpose of the hunt was to highlight county programs and services as well as local community partners. I wish I had known about this event ahead of time because it would have been fun to participate with my grandson. I'm hoping they plan on doing it again.

Linking to signs, signs.

Scenes from my walk

Today I'm showing a few pictures I took while walking around Dorothy Oven Park. I like this little park because when the weather starts to get hotter like it has lately, these trails offer a bit more shade from the sun. That tree in the last picture looked to me like it was just begging to be climbed.

Linking to Through My Lens.

Profile picture

This Sandhill Crane was definitely ready for a closeup. It was foraging for dinner in the grass and I was able to walk right up to it and take these pictures. I love those red eyes.

Linking to Saturday's Critters, Camera Critters, and The Bird D'Pot.

SkyWatch Weather Vane

Weather vane on top of the gazebo at Dorothy Oven Park.

By the way, it's Friday the 13th. Be careful out there!

Linking to SkyWatch Friday.

Good Fences

Two more pictures I took on one of my walks last weekend. The old gate is left over from when this area was a farm, another feature they left in place when they turned the property into a park. I like the tree in the second picture because of all the vines growing up and around it. When I was a kid, we used to try and find trees that were close together with these vines growing between them so we could use them as a swing.

Linking to Good Fences.

Car Sign

I was driving down Interstate 75 on my way back from Orlando last week and this car kept passing me. I do not take pictures while I'm driving, but when we hit a backup due to an accident, he ended up right next to me while we were stopped in traffic. Perfect time for a quick photo through the windshield!

Linking to signs, signs.

Cooling off on the trail

Everyone gets a chance to cool off on a warm day after a busy hike on one of the trails at the Alford Greenway.

Linking to Our World Tuesday.

Fire Truck

Usually when I see a fire truck, it is rushing to an emergency and I am just trying to get out of the way. I saw this one just parked next to the pharmacy when I was picking up a prescription, so I decided it was a perfect opportunity to get a picture.

Linking to Through My Lens.

Sandhill Crane family going to school

Today I am featuring pictures taken by a special guest photographer, my almost 12 year old grandson, James. He took these pictures with his phone one morning this week at his middle school in Orlando, Florida.

Not sure if this is the mama or daddy bird with this cute little baby.

The whole family. Two babies!

These last two shots show where they were walking around at the school. They don't seem to be too worried about all the people they passed or the many cars in the parking lot they walked across to get to this area. Thanks for the wonderful pictures James!

Linking to Saturday's Critters, Camera Critters, and The Bird D'Pot.

SkyWatch Friday

Like the wall I showed yesterday, this is another interesting structure that was left intact when the new park was created. This old hay barn sits next to one of the park trails and I have shown it before in a previous post here. I liked the way you could see the sky peeking through those old rafters.

Linking to SkyWatch Friday.

Walled off

This is part of an old wall which originally surrounded the property that was recently developed into the new park near my house. You would never know from these pictures that there is a busy highway on the other side. I'm so glad they left the wall there because I really like the way it looks, especially with all the vines covering it.

This wall is close enough to being a fence that I am linking this post to Good Fences.

Lost

I took this picture a few months ago. You can tell because some of the trees are bare, including the one casting its shadow on the sign. Apparently someone lost their knitted scarf and someone else decided to hang in on this sign outside the football stadium on the Florida State University campus. The sculpture in the background is entitled "Unconquered" and was created by artist Fritz White. It depicts a member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida astride a rearing horse. You can see more pictures of it on the artist's website here.

Linking to signs, signs.

Choices

While walking on one of the trails through the woods at the greenway near my house, I had to make a choice which way to go. I ended up going to the right, but I think they both ended up near the same place. It was a beautiful day.

I apologize for not visiting and commenting on my favorite blogs for the last few days. I was visiting my grandkids in Orlando and we were so busy I didn't have a chance to do any blogging, but I'm planning to catch up with everyone now that I'm back! Thanks everyone for all of the wonderful comments on my posts while I was gone.

Linking to Our World Tuesday.

May Theme Day: Smell

There is nothing like the rich fragrance of the Southern Magnolia blossom and they seem to be everywhere right now. Here you can see one in full bloom and next to it, a bud forming which will soon look just as beautiful as its neighbor.

The first day of the month is Theme Day in the City Daily Photo community and this month's theme is "smell". Please visit the May Theme Day gallery here to see other interpretations of this month's theme.