eskildoodle1

Morning Magic

These colorful plants were refreshed and nurtured by recent rains. The flat illumination honed their hues and delightfully decorated the morning landscape. #morning #garden

Rain rattled the roof through the night then gradually retreated during the morning. Retention ponds full of the recent rain water attracted herons, egrets, and other wading birds as well as ducks. Clouds finally yielded to sunshine in the late afternoon and we had dinner at the Flying Boat, beneath leftover rainclouds burnished by sunlight.Continue reading “After the Storm”

No Refuge in a Storm

Storms recently fractured the upper portion of the tree on the right and cast its top carelessly aside next to the playground. Woe be to whatever might have been sheltering underneath. #tree #broken #storm

Twilight’s Last Gleaming

On the day before the summer solstice, storm clouds parted briefly to reveal a glimpse of the thin crescent moon and Venus hovering over the western horizon. Though rain drenched that day as well as the night the followed, this brief respite certainly brightened the spirits. #moon #venus #twilight

Monsoon Season Again

Greetings from not-so-sunny Florida with rain falling at a rate of 2-5 inches per hour. (I guess that explains the flash flood warning.) The wet season has begun, and while the first half of June yielded only half an inch of rain, during the past few days we have reached the average of 7.5 inchesContinue reading “Monsoon Season Again”

Busy Sun

Yesterday’s Sun was very active with lots of spots visible on the surface as seen on the photo at top in white light. The middle image shows the intense magnetic fields (bright areas) associated with the spots on the surface. The lower image shows structures that temporarily hover over the solar surface in addition toContinue reading “Busy Sun”

Oswald Come Home

It was a long time coming; created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was controlled by Universal from 1928 until 2006 when the Walt Disney Company negotiated the return of the rights for Oswald. In the meantime Disney created Micky Mouse as the replacement. Mickey wasContinue reading “Oswald Come Home”

Low Down

Squeaky chirps from atop a dead tree betrayed the presence of several swallow-tailed kites, probably adults and offspring. It came as no surprise since they frequent the area; but a bit of fluffy down on the pavement did arouse my curiosity. Likely it came from one of the raptors high above, and I wanted toContinue reading “Low Down”

Polynesian Dream

Thoughts are never very far from those islands so distant. Tikis guard memories of people we have met and friends we have made. We will return. #Polynesia #tiki

Reaching Out

We came across this novel knocker five years ago in the Canary Islands, and I couldn’t help wondering what was on the other side of the door. The iron hand seemed to be reaching out to invite someone to knock but I did not accept the invitation; perhaps I should have. #Knocker #canaryislands