Early morning shadows, Ponte Vedra Beach

Sunset, out back, Roscoe

Lots of nice clouds lately.

Inadvertent origami, leaves, Jax Beach.

Oddly, these two were within five feet of each other.

Rust never sleeps, Jax Beach

This is the back of an abandoned Wendy's fast food joint. It is finally, after two years of small changes, showing some major decay.

Series of abstract finds, Jax Beach

A strange collection, Jax Beach

What are Salvation Army correctional services? Reprimanding bell ringers?

Fallen hero, Jax Beach

Couldn't resist.

Same roads, same rights, same rules, Rant alert.

Based on the cyclists in our area, I would say that this is the most hypocritical bumper sticker that I have seen in a while. There is a lot of animosity between motorists and cyclists here in North Florida. Most of it caused by the cyclists, in my opinion. There is an air of entitlement on the bikers that irritates anyone on the receiving end. They ignore rules all of the time. Stop signs mean pedal faster, pedestrian crossing are  for target practice. Riding three abreast at a slow pace is a right, even if cars pile up behind. If you mention this to a cyclist you get an angry reply (local cyclists are almost always angry) to the tune of "Do you know how hard it is to unclip, put a foot down, re-clip and start again?!?" As to the pedestrian crossing, last year I was walking in a crosswalk that had a sign up saying that all vehicles should stop for people in the crosswalk. A pelleton of Saturday riders missed me by a foot, at high speed, and one of them yelled "Look out!"

I wouldn't be as upset by this if we didn't go to France every year. In Europe there is peace between motorists and cyclists. Cyclists come to a stop at stop signs and red lights. We were driving on a very narrow, very windy road in Provence when we came upon a huge club outing, it must have been 50 bikes. We resigned ourselves to five miles of very slow going. The last rider saw us and whistled. The whole group got into single file and the leader signaled when there was no oncoming traffic and we had an easy pass. I wanted to buy each rider a bottle of wine.

I am not a blue nosed pecksniff about this. If a cyclist is approaching a three or four way intersection and can see that there is no traffic, go ahead and run the signs. It's the disregard of others that galls me. In our very local area the cyclists have taken to riding on the sidewalks, even when there are a lot of walkers, and they have an attitude of ownership. Sad. I hope this improves soon.

BTW, I do know that there are motorists with short tempers that intimidate cyclists and endanger them....they are wrong and they have a huge lethal hunk of metal around them.

OK..rant over. Ride safely.

Spanish moss, from dock, Roscoe

 We have a lovely Live oak that hangs over the water. This long Spanish moss has been hanging from it all summer. I have started to take pictures of it mainly to capture the way water changes from minute to minute.

Last of the whirling butterflies, dock, Roscoe

There is a popular plant here in North Florida that is sold as Whirling butterflies, because it has these long, very thin stems with  pink flowers that look like butterflies, and they dance in the wind. Sadly, they are strong spreaders and get into every pot near them. They die back in the Fall, to the ground, and re-emerge in the Spring from a very tough root ball. It's a real love-hate plant for me because in a light breeze, in the summer they are lovely and graceful.

Their latin name is Gaura Lindheimerii in case you want to look them up.

Hiding cone, Jax Beach

Autumn tomatoes, Garden, Roscoe

This year the second crop of tomatoes has done better than the Spring crop. We are still in Indian summer and the vines keep producing. These are miniature Romas.

Pumpkin, MSD

Grass and flare, MSD

Utility marks, Jax Beach

Thank you, Jax Beach

A nice, ambiguous sign.

Green and orange, Jax Beach

Four yellows, Jax Beach

Power tool vandalism/graffiti, Jax Beach

 This is an electrical box at the corner of 3rd Street and Beach Boulevard in Jacksonville Beach. It is probably one of the three busiest corners in the beaches. There are always cars here. And yet someone, with a big power sander stood here long enough to sand this very long trunked elephant onto/into the front and etch most of one side.  Nervy

Ocal pompano, Jax Beach

Maybe you have to live here, but when they put up the pompano sign we get all giddy. In my opinion, the best white fish that I have ever eaten. Subtle, light yet flavorful.  The crab, shrimp from Mayport, and oysters aren't too shabby either.

Garden, Roscoe

I have not been posting here as much as usual since we got back from Provence. The garden had 8 weeks to go wild....and it did. A lot of it was weeds that covered 2/3 of my back garden, near the water. So, the cameras came out less and time in Photoshop and Blogger was almost nil. I now have cleared much of the invading force and cooler weather and less sunlight has slowed them down too. I have a new herb garden, freshly planted and the Autumn tomatoes are slowly turning red. All of the weeds in this picture are gone too.  I expect to post more faithfully now.

Dog fennel, garden, Roscoe

This is a plant that I transplanted from a roadside. It is an incredibly vigorous grower and can be found on roadsides and abandoned fields. It is probably the most common large weed in our area. And I love it. It is a native plant so I don't feel bad for nurturing this one. It got it's name because people used it to rub on their dogs to keep fleas and ticks away. It looks like an upright fern or fennel from the Spring to the Fall. Then it develops these tiny flowers and looks wonderful for three weeks, sets seed, disperses seed, and dies back to the ground. The seeds propagate easily but the young plants were easy to pull and discard. This plant is ten years old and stronger than ever.

King of the world.

It's all a matter of perspective.

Looking down, Jax Beach

Looking down, Jax Beach

Green door, Jax Beach

Jay Beach

This is the building my Gym, Bailey's, rents space in. Every Sunday I start my post-spinning class walk by going around the back of it and continuing to the beach and back. There is always something new.

Weigh out, Jax Beach

Looking down, Jax Beach

Looking down is underrated. Objects align themselves.

Blue and yellow, Jax Beach

Autumn light, Jax Beach

Fall color, Florida style.

It's not a sugar maple forest, but we make do.

Last sunrise before Daylight Savings Time ended

Roses and shadows, Garden, Roscoe

Roses, garden

Clyde's okra forest.

My neighbor has two raised beds right next to our fence. all summer he grew tomatoes and peppers. Towards September he put in okra, one of his favorites. He got a lot of growth, but no flowers or pods. Once they got about six feet tall they started to produce, and he needed a ladder to pick them.

Roses, garden.

All of the plants are tucking in for winter. The knockout roses are putting on their last show...maybe.