Working the Wagon Wheel

Any family visit should really include a trip to the flea market. When the Brooklyn family was visiting with a 2-year-old in tow it was practically required! The Wagon Wheel and Mustang flea markets are adjacent and flooded with the old and new, trash and treasure that you would expect, but there are also a few aisles transformed into and open air Asian food market. Luscious and amazing!

The problem is that Rich and I are clueless on what most of it is or how to cook and consume it. Any ideas on how to get educated?

The Money Frog in Red

Something about the Chinese sculptural imagery really appeals to me. It's concrete, bright, gaudy and I love it. In this case you are looking at the Mythical King Money Frog and my empty glass on top of a coaster from Costa Rica (courtesy of my lovely daughter). The frog holds a coin with a red gem in his mouth and the coaster features a red cart. Red is a good color, but my real energy color is orange and there's plenty of that in this picture too. Who knows, maybe the oranges of Florida were my siren call!

A great pair of Sarasota legs!

There I was, shivering in the winter wind wearing only a wool suit jacket when I was accosted by these great looking pair of legs! What else could a girl do but stop and gawk? and whip out the camera for some fun fiddling? It was a sunny afternoon with nice contrast and my belly was full from a yummy lunch. I could ignore the cold for a five minute photo shoot! and those legs were waiting and so willing...

The sculpture sits in a square facing the Selby Public Library with a Starbucks on the other corner which I have been known to haunt on occasion.

Isn't pool cool?

It is in the winter time. Here's a shot of pool at the Porpoise Pub.

Coming home

So.  Lee Pons can play the keyboards. The timer on my camera works.

It's beginning to look a lot like winter

Like the scavenger birds on the beach, I was busy poking my camera in the grasses and other debris left behind on the beach in winter. I came upon this expired horseshoe crab and was fascinated by a close-up. You can thank me for excluding the smell. And no I didn't salt it - that is sand!



This is a magnified picture of the tidal debris and the sand really does look like salt here. There are grasses but also egg sacs and other soggy, smelly stuff I don't care to identify. And even though it smells rank, the jumble intrigues me. The beach has its seasons and winter brings storms that pull up live shells and dump them at the tide change and clumps of jumbled grasses that slowly get buried by sand.

Boca Ciega Millenium Park

A recent trip to Boca Ciega Millenium Park, a quick bike ride from my house, shows Florida in its own muted, powdery colors. I grew up in the tri-state area of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware where greens are lush, flowers a dizzy flash of bright colors and seasons in stark contrast. Florida is not like that. Think soft pine needle beds, bright flowers mingling all year round and lots of softly muted colors born of drought resistant characteristics. Seasons seem to fade in and out of each other without fanfare. One month the birds are in a wild fish feeding frenzy at the beach and the next month a morning walk begs the question, "Where are the birds?"

I like the calm pace of the weather, the bright sunlight and the wickedly wild diversity of plants. I took the grandson out for a walk in the stroller around an apartment complex and stopped and stood gaping at the beautiful complexity of a flowering plant growing idly in the landscaping. Florida does a good job of keeping me amused...and out of trouble!