Withalachoochee State Forest, Florida

Underwater

 

Hurricane Wilma

Hurricane Wilma is on her way. 416 miles from Tampa. Category 2 hitting near Naples. Hillsborough County offices are closed. Schools too. Our rain should begin this afternoon. Aprx. 2-3 inches of rain for Tampa due to the cold front . So looks like Tampa will escape the brunt of the storm. But, anything can change, including Wilma. State of Emergency's declared. The Keys are being evacuated.

Govenor Bush is holding a conference and he's speaking in Spanish.

Linda Giannella-ABC Action News-- is doing the weather. I went to school with her in NJ and now she's here in Tampa.




Wow, temps should get down to the 50's this week.

More Storms

Another hurricane on the way. Wilma. Hanging on the Yucatan Peninsular and then moving west to south Florida. Looks like Tampa lucked out again.

Extremely humid today. Need the rain. Cold front moving in after the storm. Finally some cool weather.

Flowers

Flowers: Digital Photos

Moon Flower--My garden
Lillies--My garden

Orchids--St. Louis

Bird of Paradise--St. Augustine

USFBotanical Gardens- I don't know what the plant is. (Manipulated in PaintshopPro5)

This Hoya hangs in a pot in my yard.

It's close to 20 years old.

It just had a full bloom in October and

I counted 12 blooms. Pretty good for an old girl(Manipulated in PaintshopPro5)

Sunday Football

Tampa Bay Bucs Beat Miami


5 and 1




GO BUCS

More Florida Life

Florida Nature

Florida sunsets and sunrises are almost always spectacular. I stopped by Simmon's Park in Ruskin, just south of Tampa and caught a beautiful sunset this past spring.













This sun is setting near Lettuce Lake, Tampa. As we were leaving the park, I stopped to take this shot in December 2004










This sun is rising early one morning on the east coast at Flagler Beach, just north of Daytona.

Flagler Beach during last year's hurricane season 2004. Much of the beach was eroded. We found a sea turtle nest that was gettiing washed away. We tried to cover it up, but I don't think it worked.

Random Musings

Florida offers some of the best photo ops. Even from my office window in the middle of the sprawling city of Tampa I can find wildlife. These two Sandhill Cranes like to hang out at our building. They will knock on doors and walk up to the main entrance.








And if it's not wildlife, there is always, Courtney, the theraphy dog. She's a sweet, loving Golden Retriever.