Florida Up Close

So, I've been testing out the macro lens on my camera lately and the result has been some pretty cool shots. Check it out.

Portugese Man-O-War on the beach in Fernandina. Did you know their tentacles can get up to 60 feet long? Crazy!

Water Cabbage on the St. John's River, Central Florida

Felipe the turtle, Lake George, Central Florida

Dolphins on the Intracoastal Waterway, New Smyrna Beach FL

--------- The Glades --------

Horseshoe Crab on Turkey Key

Shells on Turkey Key

Waking up in a Healy Hammock at the Chocolate Chip Cookie Board Up Site.

This is a December morning in the Everglades.

Mossy Crap on a rock, Turtle Key 

Lightning Welk

Barnacles

Mangroves in the Nightmare

Beryl: Beach House Edition

Nothing like coming out of the field and returning home to a hurricane. Well, technically, the winds were not quite hurricane strength (a hurricane has 75 mph winds, we only had 70) but it was still a great storm. The following photos were taken ten hours before the storm wailed on us, around noon on Sunday May 27:

A very sandblown Ocean Avenue

Taking advantage of the surf

Storm clouds gathering

Waves gathering strength

At home, it was life as normal. A low-country boil on the table, plus extra gallons of water just in case.

Later that evening:

Marnocha

After a walk to the beach, we threw Stephanie Marnocha a surprise lead ceremony downstairs, in the best way we knew how: With Cake.

It was a great night with lots of great people around. The power went out right around midnight, and because we couldn't open any doors or windows (cause of the gale force winds) it led to a pretty balmy night here on Tarpon.

We avoided the predicted flooding, but the storm did tear shingles off roofs, siding off houses, and knocked over fences and street lamps. Needless to say, we were all very happy to not be in the field and to not have any of our cohorts out there either.