Sandhill Cranes

My daughter lives in Orlando and every time I visit her, I see Sandhill Cranes wandering around her neighborhood. I saw this group in the roundabout near her house one morning. They never seem to be in a hurry to get out of the way, which is fine by me!

Note: I'm putting my blog on a break so I can spend time with my family this coming week for Thanksgiving. After that, I will be having cataract surgery on both eyes, so I'm not sure when I will be able to get back to blogging. Hoping to be able to see much better when surgery is over. Wish me luck!

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

Precarious position

I happened to see this accident a little while after it happened not too far from where I live. Apparently the red truck swerved to avoid hitting stopped traffic in the intersection and ended up wedged against that utility pole coming to a stop in almost a vertical position. Surprisingly, there were no injuries. The third photo is not mine, but from a news report.

School geese

Geese hanging out on both sides of the fence in front of my grandson's school. You can see the geese from my first photo on the other side of the fence in the second shot. We like to wave at them as we go by.

All you can eat

I saw this sign inside a local seafood restaurant as I was leaving. I would probably not be able to eat enough to get my money's worth on these all-you-can-eat deals, but I love the artwork.

Linking to signs, signs.

Sad reminder

I have driven past the shopping center where this little yoga studio is located too many times to count over the past 30+ years. I even remember going there with my kids when it first opened. Many businesses have come and gone in that time and I have probably been inside all of those storefronts at least once. This little yoga studio is the site of one of the latest incidences of gun violence that seem to happen on a weekly basis now in this country. Two women were killed and several more people injured when a gunman walked in during a yoga class and just started firing. I took this photo looking up from the parking lot. You can see all the flowers and memorials that have been placed in front of the studio. I wish I knew why this keeps happening. I wish I knew how to stop it. I just don't understand.

Linking to Our World Tuesday.

Painted wall

I noticed this painted wall next to a parking lot downtown. I'm not sure what it is supposed to be, but it is interesting,

Linking to Monday Mural.

Hitching a ride

This little guy stayed on my window for quite awhile as I was driving around town. He seemed to have a strong grip on the glass. Don't worry though, I was not driving when I took this photo. I had stopped at a traffic light.

Linking to Saturday's Critters and Camera Critters.

10 years

Ten years ago today, I posted this same photo of the Florida capitol as my very first post on Tallahassee Daily Photo. At the time, I never dreamed I would still be blogging here ten years later. I have made so many wonderful friends all over the world through this little blog and for that I am extremely grateful. Thank you all so much for following and commenting all of these years. You can see that original first post here.

Fall blooms

I thankful that even though we had some rough weather with last month's hurricane, there are still some pretty blooms in the rose garden at one of our local parks.

Linking to Thankful Thursday.

Help

This truck is parked next to the our local Salvation Army headquarters. This organization is one of many that are providing a lot of desperately needed help to communities just west of here in the Florida panhandle that were practically destroyed when Hurricane Michael blew through as a category 4 storm a few weeks ago.

Linking to signs, signs.

Election Day

It's Election Day in the US today. This sign was posted outside where I vote. I will be glad when this election is over and everywhere is a campaign free zone.

Pointing up

I took this photo at Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park located just north of town. I like the way that tree in the center seems to be directing your attention up to the sky.

Linking to SkyWatch Friday.

November Theme Day: Friend

My granddaughter (on the left) and her two best friends. This was taken when they were attending a high school football game to watch their older brothers perform in the marching band.

The first day of the month is Theme Day in the City Daily Photo community. Be sure to visit the CDP Theme Day gallery here to see other members' interpretations of the theme.

Flag marker

I saw this little stone at the foot of a flag pole when my grandson and I were visiting the pumpkin patch.

Linking to signs, signs.

Metal chicken

I saw this poor guy standing outside of a local restaurant. Maybe he is still traumatized from that last hurricane that blew through here a couple of weeks ago.

Linking to Our World Tuesday.

Pumpkin shopping

I enjoyed following my youngest grandson around one of our local pumpkin patches recently while he shopped for the perfect pumpkin. He picked out three and decorated them when we got home. We will probably be carving one into a jack-o-lantern for Halloween this week. I bought that little fairy door on the baseboard just above the pumpkins this past summer when I was in Ireland and it has been a big hit with my grandkids!

White Ibis

A White Ibis out for a stroll.

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

Taking off

I took this photo looking west just as the sun was setting.

Linking to SkyWatch Friday.

Thankful

These photos show debris piles in and around my neighborhood as result of cleanup efforts after Hurricane Michael hit our area two weeks ago. Thousands of trees fell in Tallahassee during the storm damaging homes, blocking streets and pulling down power lines. My power was off for almost a week. These debris piles are all over town now, waiting to be picked up. It's a mess, but I am thankful that my house was not damaged and my family is safe. We were very fortunate compared to the communities just to the west of us.

Linking to Thankful Thursday.

Category 4

Posting now while I still have power. I woke up this morning to the news that Hurricane Michael is a now a category 4 and the strongest storm to ever hit our area. I'm in my house and as prepared as I can be. I am 40 miles from the coast and not in a flood zone. Just worried about wind and tornados. Nothing to do now except wait and hope for the best!

Hurricane break

I guess I'm going to be forced to take a blog break for the next few days because we have a tropical storm headed our way that is supposed to become Hurricane Michael later today. Hopefully it won't be too bad, but I'm worried, so I'll be busy preparing my house and getting storm supplies.

Waiting

This cute little pup was being very patient while its owner was ordering in the line in front of us at an ice cream shop. Maybe waiting for a taste?

Linking to Saturday's Critters and Camera Critters.

Sunset

The sun was setting behind the clouds when I took this photo while sitting outside watching my grandson perform with his high school marching band last Friday evening in Orlando.

Linking to SkyWatch Friday.

Waterford Crystal

Our tour guide holding up one of the Waterford Crystal triangles that make up the Times Square crystal ball that drops every year at midnight on New Year's Eve in New York City. There are 2,688 of these crystal triangles on the ball.

While staying in Waterford, Ireland on our vacation, we toured the House of Waterford Crystal Factory and of course visited their showroom. It was hard to choose because everything was so beautiful, but I finally settled on the crystal perfume bottle shown in the last photo to bring home with me as a keepsake of our visit.

Grafton Street

We spent one morning shopping and then eating lunch on Grafton Street, a popular pedestrian only shopping area in Dublin. I had Irish stew for lunch at Bewley's Grafton Street Café, one of the city's most celebrated landmarks. It was delicious.

Linking to signs, signs.


Dan 😘

The Ring of Kerry

A few of my favorite photos from our drive around the Ring of Kerry on our vacation in Ireland. It's really hard to take a bad picture in this area because the scenery is so spectacular. The first three photos show Ballinskelligs Bay on the beach in the small village of Waterville. In the last photo, I zoomed in on a stone ring fort which can barely be seen in the center of the photo right before it. These circular fortified settlements are found all over Ireland and were built sometime before the year 1000. Most are in ruins, but I think this is one that was reconstructed on its original site.

Update: After reading one of the comments on this post, I realized that some might not know exactly what "The Ring of Kerry" is. It is a 125 mile scenic route through County Kerry that takes you through some of the most spectacular landscape in southwestern Ireland. It is also called the Iveragh Peninsula. If you travel the whole route, you will be driving in a circle, which forms a "ring" around the area. We started and ended in Killarney and it took us about 5 hours because we stopped for lunch and in a few other places to rest and take photos. Here is a link with a map and better explanation: The Ring of Kerry.

Linking to Tuesday's Treasures and Our World Tuesday.