some 45 years ago

Monroe Station, Everglades.  March 24th, 1978.

Highway 41, just off the Tamiami Trail  (Station long gone, burned down years ago).

Camera; Polaroid SX-70.  Just found these, now a little worn and faded.

 

 

an ominous visit?

From just outside the kitchen slider, I had an early morning visit from a brood of onlookers. Not one, but four Eastern Screech-Owls. Stemming from folkloric tales, folks will often say "people see owls when they're indecisive about an important decision .... or could be that important time to take a leap in a specific direction."  Or .......

Typically screech-owls are solitary characters, cute, but foreboding. All morning-long they wouldn't stop watching me. And, that was all four of 'em.

sweet Magnolia

The southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) is a flowering, intensely aromatic evergreen capable of growing upwards of 80 feet tall. Southern Living once described the early summer blooms, where in "some flowers may smell good, but none smell better". 

While others, "The southern magnolia is a magnifcent tree, producing a sweet and delightful fragrance, but the smell can be potent and overbearing if the tree is too close to your porch or sitting area". Luckily, I just happened to have crossed these scents while taking 'a walk in the park'.

Both new & fading blooms, 

 

most mornings start the same

 

 

a season's finale

Another end, to another winter season of shows and personal embarrassments.

 

Finally released from the colonoscopy - a warm coffee.