Daylily: Aztec Gold = Spectacular

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Buying something wonderful and classic, like this Daylily (Hemerocallis), from Home Depot has always seemed somehow wrong to me. But I can't argue with results like this. I have always loved Daylilies, having been raised in Virginia by a gardening Mom. I look forward to having giant beds of naturalized Daylilies all over my garden.

This spring, I bought two of these Daylilies from 'Depot, and two more called Ming Toy. The Mings are starting to send up bloom stalks, and the Aztecs were blooming when I brought them home and planted them. Now they have exhausted the first round of blooms and are sending up more. Wahoo!! I MUST get in the habit of buying more like 5 or 7 from now on. I love bringing home new plants, but I do get lazy when it's time to get out there and plant them all.

Clearwater: Infrastructure: Metal Rings

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On a recent walking wandering photo safari, I came across an area of road construction, strewn with a variety of hardware parts. Snapping as I went, keeping a low profile so as not to be mistaken for a terrorist, I caught some neat shots in amongst the piles of mayhem.

Backyard Garden: Zinnias Have Zest AND ZIP!

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Yeah, did I mention I planted Zinnias too? Yuppers... one of my favorites too! Okay, I admit it, I love lots of flowers and have many, many favorites.

Backyard Garden: Spectacular Sunflower Closeup

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What can I tell you, I LOVE Sunflowers! If you click on the image above you can see this one at 1200 pixels across, twice the size. If you click here, you can see it at 1600 pixels across.

I love gardening. I hope you like this shot, I'm kind of proud of this one.

Backyard Garden: Four O'Clock Beauty

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I am proud and happy to report that I grew this beauty myself, in my backyard flower garden. Not too shabby. No, I can't take credit for creating it... just planting and nurturing it.

Life Is A Mystery... Get Closer!

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It's just a little thing... but as someone has been quoted as saying: "GOD is in the details!"

Yeah, well, that could mean a lot of things, eh? But seriously... When you look at this closely, it's easy to think it might be man made, machine made, constructed rather than evolved or grown...

I think Dr. Seuss had the right of it when he wrote Horton Hears A Who!

Life Is So Incredibly, Frighteningly Fragile

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I found this beautiful baby bird, a baby Mockingbird, in the lawn. It seemed as though maybe it were trying to learn how to fly, and not quite having the hang of it yet. So I put it up in a tree, safe from cats I hoped, and let it be.

Well, that is, after I took a dozen pictures of it.

Whenever I ponder non-human living things for more than the few minutes it takes to de-Disney-ize them, it strikes me how terribly fragile life is. No matter your species, you are always only a slender step away from death.

As always, if you'd like to see the photo above at twice that size, click on the photo. However, if you'd like to see this one REALLY big, click here. The detail is pretty cool!

On Life And Living Pt 1

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Sometimes, it seems as though the littlest thing, the most minor glimmer, can set my mind to ponder the biggest things. What ABOUT life? What is it all about? What is the purpose? Can it be so simple... can it be as simple as this: The purpose of life is to enjoy the beauty and wonder of a tiny little flower growing at our feet by a mailbox at a small house in a small neighborhood in a small town in Florida?

After all, what more is there? What of more importance is there in this world? If we cannot appreciate the wonders at our feet, what else is there? I work with people who would not give that flower a FIRST thought, never mind a second thought. Their purpose in life revolves around profits and reports and volume growth.

Other people I know wrap their world around their children. No doubt, children are important. But are they the purpose of life, or merely the propagation of further life for a purpose that may or may not be fully understood at the time of propagation? Are children the purpose, or the result? A directive or a side effect?

I don't expect to find answers to these questions. I suspect that the answer is different for each of us. But I also suspect that some answers are not valid, while others are. For some, the purpose of THEIR life might just be earning money, acquiring power, controlling others. But I don't think that qualifies as the purpose of LIFE.

What about you? Any ideas? What do you feel is the purpose of YOUR life?

Duck's Eye View: Perspective Re-Programming

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Have you ever wondered what the world looks like through some other person's eyes? What about the eyes of another species? This is what Alamo Lane, in Dunedin, Florida, looks like from the level of a duck's eyes. Wow, very different isn't it.

What Spring Looks Like

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Green is my absolute favorite color, and this is pretty much why... it's a GROWING color. It is life. It is nature. It is, to me, spirit and fresh and alive! This picture captures the newest leaves on an oak tree that is growing on the bank of Lake Paloma, in Dunedin, Florida.

In Serried Ranks...

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In serried ranks they stretch to the horizon, like so many unremembered dreams come back to haunt me. Each of them an eye to inside, each of them a hollow stare.

I wandered not amongst the hills so steely gray, nor danced among the violets gay.

Under yonder hills it lay, a world beneath, a world of different day.

What horrors lurk beneath to find? Why none but those from in my mind.

Mace

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This is one of my best friends. His name is Mace. This is one of the best pictures I have ever gotten of him. The other day he was just holding perfectly still for me when I had the camera. I think he was jealous of the primary subject of my snapping at the moment. So I agreed that it was time to snap him again.

Mace has had quite a life. He was born here in Florida. Then he moved to Washington State for a while. He spent ten years out there, enjoying the country life, including some snow even, and a coyote attack, sadly. But here he is, living in Florida again.

Lantana

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I am just going to let this Lantana speak for itself.

Car 24 Where Are You?

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It would seem that Car 24 is having some difficulty. Better call the Auto Club!

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Cool Paint Job On This Bug

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At first glance this bug looked somewhat ordinary and plain. Then I looked closer. Wow. So I took the very best closeup I could manage at the moment. Then when I got home and downloaded it... WOW again, times ten!

What a COOL looking insect. You really MUST click on it so you can see better detail. That is one very interesting insect. I just hope, having said such nice things about it, that it doesn't turn out to be some horribly damaging pest that is destroying the ecosystem. I snapped this little guy at the Moccasin Lake Nature Park, in Clearwater Florida, using my Nikon D80.

HOME

New Year - New Beginnings

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I did not make any 'formal' New Year resolutions. But I do feel as though it is a new beginning, like this mangrove seedling in Tampa Bay. Things I don't like about me can be left behind in '07. Things I wish for myself can be pursued in '08. Bad habits can be challenged, better habits can be sought and adopted.

I don't remember the source, but here is a quote:

"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be."

Flight

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I will admit right up front that this photograph has imperfections... but I was so tickled with the way it came out, just the same, that I wanted to share it. These birds are in flight over Lake Paloma, in Dunedin, Florida. Please feel free to leave a comment, constructive criticism is always welcome.

The all white birds with black legs and yellow bills are Great Egrets. The birds with somewhat curving pink bills, pink legs, and black wing tips are White Ibis. The brownish birds that look similar to the White Ibis are also White Ibis... but immature. Beautiful, aren't they?

Hey, tomorrow is New Years eve! Are you going to a party, or are you going to celebrate at home? Either way, Happy New Year!!!

More Lake Paloma photography at Dunedin Daily Photo. Slow cars and fast food on Clearwater Daily Photo, and beautiful sailboats and beach scenes on Clearwater Beach Daily Photo. Thanks for coming today!

Mr. Squirrel Said "I'm Ready For My Close-Up!"

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So, hating to disappoint my furry little friend, I present to you: Mr. Squirrel's Close-Up.

If you would like to see more photos of the Dunedin, Clearwater, and Clearwater Beach area, check out Dunedin Daily Photo, Clearwater Daily Photo, and Clearwater Beach Daily Photo. Thanks for coming today!

My New Best Friend, The Squirrel

I HOPE YOU ALL HAD A WONDERFUL AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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Meet my new best friend, the Squirrel. At least, as long as I keep the feeder full, and the corn cobs fresh! :D The weather has just recently started to cool a little here in Dunedin, Florida, so I figure it is time to keep the feeders full to some degree. I think the food resources for squirrels and birds here seldom really diminishes all that much in the winter time, but I don't like to take that chance.

HEY! Monday is New Year's Eve! What are you doing? Will you be partying at some wild and crazy New Year's Eve celebration? Or will you have a quiet countdown party at home? Either way, crazy or quiet, let's make it a good one, and welcome a New Year to make things happen! :D

And yes, I do have more squirrel photography to share with you, so please stop by every day. If you would like to see more photos of the Dunedin, Clearwater, Clearwater Beach area, check out Dunedin Daily Photo, Clearwater Daily Photo, and Clearwater Beach Daily Photo. Thanks for coming today!

This Osprey Has Something To Say

I caught up with this beautiful Osprey at Hammock Park, in Dunedin, Florida yesterday morning. I have never gotten such a good shot of an Osprey before. As I understand it, they are sometimes referred to as Fish Hawk, also.

Please click on the photograph to see the larger version, which shows the detail so much better. This picture was taken with my Nikon D80, with a 70-300 lens, at 300mm, f10, 1/250 sec. This is, by the way, a camera I would highly recommend.

If you would like to see more of this area, check out Dunedin Daily Photo, and Clearwater Beach Daily Photo. Thanks for coming today!