27 years ago today at 11:39 a.m., Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after taking off from the Kennedy Space Center.  This is a day that will live in my mind forever.



January 28, 1907

Pinecrest Gardens Art Show

Another beautiful, sunny, south Florida day today.  It was perfect for the annual Pinecrest Gardens Art Show.  After looking at my photos, I realized I took a million pictures of the grounds and none of the nice artwork.  Oh well!

 

The grounds here are so beautiful and lush!

 

There were a lot of turtles thermal-regulating!

 

These 2 were comfy up on a rock - until a third one cramped their style!

 

 

This swan has lived there a long time!

 

 

There's plenty of room for everyone, yet the turtles insist on stacking on top of each other!

 

An iguana enjoying the sunshine and fountain!

 

 

Cool shoe!

 

Beautiful gardens, wonderful art, gorgeous day, lots of things to enjoy outdoors - and these 2 nit-wits have their faces buried in their cellphones.  Go figure!

Annie Leibovitz

Glorious day in Palm Beach today!

 

 

There is an amazing exhibit of Annie Leibovitz photographs at the Norton Art Museum in West Palm Beach.  These are only a few.

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, that is, indeed, Mick Jagger

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm honored and grateful that we have a chance to finish what we started.  Our work begins today.  Let's go.  ~Barack Obama

MLK

I never really agreed with holidays being on a different day than the day the person was born, but the government didn't ask my opinion when they set the 3rd Monday of January as Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday holiday (the government doesn't get my opinion on a LOT of stuff!).  Oh, well, I would have celebrated it on the day Dr. King was born, but that's just me!

Have a Dream!:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEqnnklfYs



Happy Birthday

It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,

That a maiden there lived whom you may know

By the name of Annabel Lee; ‑

And this maiden she lived with no other thought

Than to love and be loved by me. 

She was a child and I was a child,

In this kingdom by the sea,

But we loved with a love that was more than love ‑

I and my Annabel Lee ‑

With a love that the winged seraphs of Heaven

Coveted her and me. 

And this was the reason that, long ago,

In this kingdom by the sea,

A wind blew out of a cloud by night

Chilling my Annabel Lee;

So that her high-born kinsman came

And bore her away from me,

To shut her up in a sepulchre

In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,

Went envying her and me: ‑

Yes!   That was the reason (as all men know,

In this kingdom by the sea)

That the wind came out of the cloud, chilling

And killing my Annabel Lee. 

But our love it was stronger by far than the love

Of those who were older than we ‑

Of many far wiser than we ‑

And neither the angels in Heaven above

Nor the demons down under the sea

Can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee: ‑ 

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyes

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride

In her sepulchre there by the sea ‑

In her tomb by the side of the sea.

 

                                               ~~ Edgar Allan Poe

Annabel Lee was written in 1849, and is believed to have been written for his wife Virginia.  It was not published until shortly after Poe's death that same year.

Fun in Sanford

I am in Sanford for a couple days to enjoy the nice weather and beautiful state parks around this area!

There are a lot of Sandhill Cranes here; I guess because of all the lakes. This was a family of 5 - mother, father, and 3 chicks. They were just pecking at the ground along the side of a highway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BLUE SPRING STATE PARK 



 

I love this State Park.  Because of the warm weather, there weren't a lot of manatees today.  But, it's still a beautiful place to walk around.

 

 

 

The water is crystal-clear in this spring.

 

 

 

 Several gators lying around in the warm sun.

 

 

 

This manatee was sleeping . . .

 

 

. . . but, he did occasionally come up for air.

 

 

LOTS of these little varmints in the park.

 

 

 

I am enjoying the good life, that's for sure!

 

 

I always love it when I see a Bald Eagle flying overhead.  By the time I got out my zoom lens for a better photo, he was gone.  But, the white tail is unmistakable.