Author: Picture This by Frank

Amateur photographer, long time techie, husband, dad, granddad, brother, and uncle. Main interests are nature and its environment, and travel. Secondary interests include food, beverage, football(soccer - go City (OCSC) - go Swans), music, and fun. Feel free to use the photos for non-commercial use. Just credit me - oh and let me know.

Dragonfly Lore

On By Picture This by FrankIn art, beauty, bugs, Florida, folklore, photographyLeave a comment
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Skimmer – Lake Monroe – May 2015
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Skimmer – Lake Monroe Park – May 2015

“Reflected in the dragonflies eye — mountains” – Kobayashi Issa

Dragonflies live 2 different lives. In the east they are majestic signs of strength, in the west objects of superstition. Some translations of European names for dragonflies – devils needle (French and German), water witch, blind stinger. See this blurb for more info http://www.petzon.se/dragonfly/main/just_for_fun/folklore.html. I’ll be adding this to my wetlands tour talks.

To me the fact that hexagons appear again – in the light reflected from the dragonflies eyes is a tribute to that universal shape.

Thanks to http://justkeepbrains.com/ for leading me on this path of investigation.

Bird Day #A

On By Picture This by FrankIn birds, Florida, inspiration, nature, Orlando, photographyLeave a comment
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Black-Belly Whistling Ducks – Orlando Wetlands Park – May 1015
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Pair 0 Owls – Lake Monroe Park – May 2015

“Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings” – Salvador Dali

Whistling ducks are really pretty, their feathers appear like they are painted. It’s black belly whistling duck season – so these are probably not the last ones you’ll see.

As for the owls – not a great picture, just proud if myself for spotting them. So I wanted to share. And yes, screech owls really do screech, I heard them for quite some time after they left their roost.

Quote found at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/bird.html

Interesting Sun

On By Picture This by FrankIn beach, beauty, Florida, inspiration, nature, photographyLeave a comment
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Sun Up Over Water – Cocoa Beach – April 2015
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Dark Morning – Cocoa Beach – April 2015

“You must not blame me if I do talk to the clouds” – Henry David Thoreau

Wetlands today and a history jaunt around Lake Monroe tomorrow. I’ve been reading a fabulous book Florida’s American Heritage River – Images from the St John’s Region by Mallory M. O’Conner and Gary Monroe. It explores the history of the region through it’s art.

Lake Monroe was the southern terminus of the navigable portion of the St John’s River and consequently of the exploration of Florida. In the 1800’s steam ships ran between here and Jacksonville. While I’m somewhat familiar with Sanford, I’ll be exploring DeLand and the northern shore of Lake Monroe.

Lots of history surrounds Lake Monroe which was the southern terminus of the St John’s river,

Quote found at http://www.quotegarden.com/sky-clouds.html

Happy May Day

On By Picture This by FrankIn beauty, butterfly, Florida, inspiration, photographyLeave a comment
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Butterfly – Lori Wilson Park – April 2015
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Yum Flowers – Lori Wilson Park – April 2015

“Be like a flower and turn your face to the sun” – Kahlil Gibran

While we don’t celebrate this here – I think we should! Bring out the maypoles. Perhaps we could replace Cinco de Mayo with this day. Then celebrate Mexican independence in September.

Quote found at http://www.egreenway.com/months/monmay.htm

Variety

On By Picture This by FrankIn beauty, birds, Florida, Orlando, photographyLeave a comment
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Feeding Time – Orlando Wetlands Park – April 2015
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Speaking of Eating – Orlando Wetlands Park – April 2015

Two wood Storks, a spoonbill and an ibis. The spoonbills were hunted to near extinction in the early 1900’s. Their feathers were prized for women’s hats. By the 1930’s there were 30-40 known breeding pairs in Florida. They have made a great comeback.

Speaking of comebacks the wood stork has “graduated” from endangered to threatened!

Second picture is an anhinga after just spearing his dinner.