Driving through a postcard

Have you always heard that Wyoming is "big sky country?" Today I drove through the southern version as I traveled west and south into the Everglades. The cane fields provide us with big big skies down here in Florida. Ocean breezes, sandy beaches, Mickey and Minny might top the list for vacationers but for me, it's a visit to the peaceful farmland we call the Glades. Giant birds swoop from field to field making their slow rounds, tractors far in the distance create a slow moving still life, and the sugarcane sways in the wind or stands straight in the hot Florida sun. It is like driving through a postcard.

Today's storm

There is something about trees, birds, crickets, nests, eggs, ponds, lakes, oceans, shells, pinecones and turtles that is irresistible. Foggy days, sunny days, rainy days.....outside the window is my own personal movie theatre.

Today we are experiencing the effects of Hurricane Irene but the park was serene. Not many people were there because of threatening storms so I had the park mostly to myself. My favorite! At one point the wind was blowing so hard and the skies overhead were so gray and ominous it felt like being alone on a desert island....dangerous yet enchanting.

Yesterday at the park

Yesterday, at the park where I ride my bike everyday, I found a blown down nest in a pretty grove of tall pine trees. It had been run over and smashed flat but I molded it back into shape and voila! a nest again, even with one crack all the way through it. Not perfect, but perfectly beautiful. The dedication of one little bird flying back and forth, back and forth, to bring grass and twigs to that tree...it is astonishing.

I also found three tiny pinecones on a deserted, secluded part of the bike path. It is harder to find these tiny ones than to find the big cones. There were two squirrels in a chase. One, with a pinecone, was being chased at top squirrel speed by his squirrel friend....until the friend got distracted and ran up a tree. Detour!

Four sandhill cranes were out having a nice stroll. Each time we spot them, they are traveling as a group. It is quite a sight! Sandhills are tall and majestic and only a little afraid of humans. Once, last season, when there were still five, I walked right up to where they were posing. Three of them immediately moved away but two others walked up to me and seemed to be indicating that it was time for me to leave! I imagined they were the males. They never seem too worried about anything...they just stroll across the street when people get too close. Never in a hurry and never flustered, they are regal. Like the queen.

The Pocket Archaeologist

The Pocket Archaeologist is about unearthing the beauty in the everyday.

Adventures with nature, experiencing the gorgeous and the brilliant, finding it everywhere....

Welcome to all who read here!