Closure…

the principle of. Isn't that what it's called? When the lines don't meet but your mind completes them for you? It wasn't what I was thinking about when I took this picture, but I looked at it again today and realized that it illustrates the principle of closure perfectly. You know the web is there, even though the lines disappear. My life is like this. I can't see my daughter, but I know she's there on the other side of the world. I am part of the web and she's the other side of it, the line that reappears between the branches. I miss her, but I know the sun shines on her the same way that it shines on me, whenever I go walking in the woods.

Walking in Ravine Gardens

My husband and I spent a pleasant few hours wandering around Ravine Gardens State Park in Palatka, Florida. The Azalea Fest was last week but there were plenty of flowers out and we took lots of pictures. I like my floating bee best because it was so big and shiny. There were lots and lots of bumble bees out visiting the flowers along with us. We saw a bitty alligator and a tree frog and the resident barred owl, too, although my picture of the owl is too blurred to share.

Shiny black bumble bee

Azaleas were plentiful.

Iris in the ponds at the bottom of the ravine.

Smallish alligator.

Bottom of the ravine, looking toward one of the footbridges.

Bottom of the ravine, near the springs.

Treefrog clinging to a palm.

More azaleas.

Nice couple we met later on the trail. They'd spotted a couple of woodpeckers.

Have you seen me?

Whatever was inside these curious looking things, they'd already escaped by the time I found them. I feel ambivalent about this.

Fog and scrag

Interesting that the shapes of trees turn more menacing when they're cloaked in fog. The dog was completely spooked for the first twenty minutes of our walk on this day. But typically, she got distracted early on and forgot to be scared.

Walking the firebreak

So this is a portion of my walk through the Julington Durbin Preserve. It's along the firebreak, which isn't the usual hard packed path that we follow, so it takes a little longer to get through. I took pictures every little while. Going this way adds another twenty minutes or so to the walk. I'm hoping that if I walk through here often enough, I'll wear a firm path through it, and it won't be quite so mind-consuming. Because as it is right now, I have to watch where I put my feet.

Kayaking on Julington Creek

 A good friend kindly loaned me and my husband a pair of kayaks, and this morning the three of us paddled down (up?) Julington Creek. It was a really fine day, 70 degrees or so, no bugs at all and quiet. Steve saw a water moccasin coiled in the water, and there were egrets and a duck and a flock of wild turkeys in the woods. We saw several big fish jumping.

Someone made a ladder on top of an old stump hanging out over the water.
Floating under Old St. Augustine Road on the way back to the landing at Palmetto Leaves Park (across from the Kohl's plaza). See the little flame graffiti overhead? There were some little boys standing on the overpass, watching us come in and they asked if we'd seen any fish.

Webbing

The spider webs are coming back, so it must be spring.

Walking in Georgia

 Here's a great big monster pine I saw at Crooked River State Park in Georgia over the weekend.

And here's a stump in the shape of a heart that I would have walked right on by except a friend stopped and noticed it. Happy Valentine's Day!

Red trunk

It's red because it's damp outside. Maybe. I seem to recall that the trees in the school forest in Ludington would get rosy during the spring, too. It's sort of spring here in Jacksonville, now. At least, it's raining a lot.

Patch of blue

It was overcast this morning, but then the sun came out all of a sudden, and I turned around and there was a pretty juxtaposition of clouds and sky and grass and sand and scraggly trees...

I still love this shot

Even though I've taken it a bajillion times.

Close in and far out

 Pine cones are the coolest things.

And this just looks like a galaxy leading off into someplace interesting.

Patterns

 The dog and I took the new path through the middle of the preserve today. It was damn cold out there. Every step I took was like walking through heavy snow. The dirt was soft and my feet sunk six or eight inches walking through it. But I got some nice pictures.

All the weeds and grasses sparkled in the light this morning. I tried to get those, too, but had mixed results. I'm going to do a little research and see if there's a better way to shoot them.

Seemed to take a lot longer, going through all the deep dirt, but it was maybe an extra fifteen minutes. Still, I was sweaty by the time we got back to the car.

Monster tracks

Tractor trails all around yesterday. Looks like they're either putting in more fire breaks or alternative routes through the preserve. I hope it's the latter. I don't want to think about what this place will look like if they do another burn through the middle. Ah, me. I'm not an expert on how to manage a preserve. I'm not. And I don't even play one on TV.

Long and winding road

I love the green and yellow and red and white on this path out into the preserve. It's like a multi-colored carpet laid out in front of me every day. I never get tired of it.

It rained last night

 All the trees and flowers had little drops of water suspended from them. It was very pretty.

I don't know what this is before it goes to seed, but I love the shapes of the pods. There are so many! It seems extravagant. But there's probably a good reason. I just don't know what it is.