The Green Fly Orchid

I've always appreciated flowers (it's not very manly- I know) but flowers have always held a connection to my faith.  They are so beautiful.   Native Florida Orchids attach to tree bark in moist locations.  The Green Fly Orchid can stand the colder climate of North Florida so I look for them during my local travels.

  This oak tree is full of epiphytes such as moss, lichens and orchids (epiphytes are plants that grow on a host but don't harm it). The bushy branches up there are covered with plants.   A big branch had fallen out and revealed what was growing up above.

The tiny little jewels in God's creation are no less special than the big ones.

Little Islands of Yankeetown - special places

I took a paddle in to some of  the special places I love to document them while they still exist.

As you can see below the gulf coast in this area is dotted with smal vegetated islands.

It creates a strange and unique habitat that will someday  be wiped away by sea level rise

Had a great but exhausting paddle.  I kept telling myself one more island -  then the wind started to whip up.

from one Island to  the next

to the next

losing track of time

little jewels of the earth

a gift

to appreciate

taking time to observe

taking time to enjoy

there are too many good pictures to choose

here are a few

you get the picture

enjoy them while they are still with us  - unitl sea level rise or a hurricane takes these little jewels away

Just sittin' on the front porch

It's the little things for which we need to be thankful .  Like sittin on the front porch just after a rain.  It's like the natural world wakes up again and everything has been cleaned.  click on the pic to enlarge.

I'm relaxing, pickin' a Blind Faith tune and out of the corner of my eye I spy  a little visitor 

there you are.

Now she sees mee too.

and she comes over to check me out.   I say hello to my little friend.

she goes about her business

I am thankful for the little things.

I hope she liked the music

The magic of the sunrise

Sometimes the light plays tricks on us.  Somtimes it reveals reality. Sometimes the message of the morning light is a poem of inspiration.
Sometimes it's a bit wierd .  Always differnt but somehow always the same.

I like to get up early.  As I have stated before  -  There is no place like the right time.   So I get up earlier and get there early. 
I start brewing my coffee after the cameras are set up and I wait to see the gift of a new morning.  Click to enlarge and enjoy this sequence of an ever changing but ever consistent solar event.  This particular morning was a little different but the dance of light and shadow filled me up .

rooting for the underdog

Again, this blog is about the facets of this beautiful world that I find interesting,  Even though I go to new places and journey through adventurdom,  I am trying to avoid a specific place as subject matter.  Rather I am trying to assert, by implication, a sense that facinating aspects of the world are all around us.   However, a beautiful place really brings home the visual message.   I will tell you that the following images were taken along the Blue Ridge Parkway on our annual family trip to the mountains.

We all love flowers.  But when flowers are tough enough to scratch out an existence in difficult conditions they deserve multiple layers of respect and facination.  For some reason I am forever rooting for the underdog and respectful of the Jobs of this world. 

Too many images to choose but here is a collection of  thriving underdogs.
Click on the images to enlarge.  enjoy.