Duck, duck, duck, goose!

I've finally figured out what the deal is with the macro setting on this camera. It focuses only exactly in the middle of the picture frame, which is maddening for someone like me, who likes to offset her subjects according to the rule of thirds. But at last I was able to get some pictures using the macro that were in focus. Then I just cropped them to offset the flowers (and the grasshopper). The last photo is a bit indelicate. Just a heads up.

What sticks

Well, seeds. Seeds stick. This is a picture of my legs covered with grass seeds. I did try to get a picture of the grass stalks that are covered with these little black seeds, but I am still having an amazing amount of difficulty getting this camera to focus on anything in "macro" mode.

And that includes this other picture of a deer. I saw it and took a picture but forgot to take the camera off "macro" mode and so it is pretty fuzzy. Sigh. Oh well. If you squint really hard you can see an orange blur black there in the green. That's the deer. There were several. You'll have to take my word for it.

The seeds stick and sometimes I wear them for hours after I get home because I get distracted by other things, like eating breakfast and watering the garden and stopping sweating. And then I'll have to drive somewhere and it'll be while I'm waiting in line at the checkout counter or maybe while I'm pumping gas or visiting friends that I'll look down and realize my legs are covered with the detritus picked up from walking in the woods. If I walk on the beach I get legs that are covered with tiny shells. My legs are magnets for small things that long to travel. I don't mind.

The quick brown fox(es) that got away

I could kick myself today because the camera needed new batteries, and rather than wait for them to finish charging, I left without it and wouldn't you know, I saw a pair of foxes out in the preserve today! They looked up as Daisy and I were walking towards them and then turned tail and disappeared into the scrub.

There is something very cat-like about a fox, not doggish at all. Are they more closely related to cats? I'll have to look it up and get back to you on it. But the upshot is I didn't get a shot because I didn't have my camera! So, here's a shot of a corn snake that I saw a couple weeks ago. Did you know that they're constrictors? I didn't, until I looked it up to see what kind of snake it was. Isn't it beautiful? The wavy line it makes lying on the ground is typical for them.

Everything looks like a snake...

especially after you've just seen one. Walking in the preserve today I saw a pygmy rattlesnake on the trail. The dog had already gone past it, oblivious, and it was coiled up in a little ball next to a clump of grass. I wanted a picture but was afraid to alert Miss Daisy to its presence by taking too long over it. The result was that I aimed the camera and took a picture but not of the snake, darn it. And of course, every stick that I saw from then on until I got back to the car looked just like a snake to me. Minds are funny things. At least, mine is. Next time, I'll tie the dog up somewhere safe, and go back and get my shot.

Take the side track

I jumped in the car with my husband, Steve, on Memorial Day, ostensibly to go the beach for a couple of hours, but we got sidetracked after we saw a sign pointing to the Guana River State Park & Wildlife Preserve off of County Road 210 just east of the intercoastal waterway. There was a trailhead into the preserve with parking and restrooms and maps and, since we were feeling adventurous, we decided to hike the two mile loop in our flip flops. We did remember our water bottles, in case we got thirsty.

At the half way point in our hike we saw another sign that pointed to a wildlife viewing blind and we could see by the map that it was just a half inch away, so we walked out to it. At the blind we saw a flock of egrets on a pond with another sign (so many signs!) explaining that the water's ph is maintained by trained scientists so that it will be attractive to lots of wildlife. Well, it was attracting egrets anyway. We watched them for a while and then made the slog back to the car and then continued our journey to the beach to soak our feet.

I'd like to go back there one day soon, but with my shoes on.

There's stuff to eat out there

Here's a bowl full of berries, fresh picked this morning. The black berries are just starting to be ripe and you can get a few handfuls without having to venture too far from the path. I don't venture too far from the path because I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt and tennis shoes and this is definitely rattlesnake country. (Staying close to the main path probably doesn't make it any safer, but it feels better in my head, and for me, that's all that matters.) One of these days I may go back out with long pants, shin guards, boots and gloves and bring back enough for a pie. One of these days. Still, it's nice out in the preserve, if you go early enough. The deer flies are getting fierce, but I soak myself in Cutter's and give the dog's back a squirt, and it's enough to fend them off for an hour or so. There aren't too many people out there lately. It's getting hot out now, so we have the place to ourselves, even on the weekends. I've been seeing signs of incipient blueberriness as well, so I have that as a motivator as the hot weather continues. Yum.

I see something wild

My husband, Steve, came with me and the dog yesterday to go walking in the preserve. We speculated about how long it would still be available for walking in, now that Florida has an all-Republican government and there's "no money" for frivolous things, like state parks and wilderness. Better to have it all look familiar and safe. More plazas! All roads must lead to Disney! And then Steve saw an interesting lizard, different than what we get around our house, and later I spotted a great big snake sitting in a dry creek bed, and it cheered us up some. I haven't identified the lizard, but Steve said the snake was a water moccasin. No water there, poor baby. It's been a dry spring.

Update: It's actually a cottonmouth. Steve looked it up.