Floridiana Gloriana

'Lake Eola' by Don Jones | Orlando | Creative Commons

I realize that many people find cityscapes a bit monotonous.  But imagine the amazement of someone from the Victorian age:  they'd see nothing but fairy-tale palaces, and fairy-tale lights.  I'm not sure what it says about us that we prefer to build our cities out of steel and glass towers and are satisfied to have them all look rather similar to one another.  I'm just asking you to focus on this one scene, with its silver, platinum, and celadon reflected in Lake Eola, its satiny dark blue backdrop, and its glass towers dwarfing the trees.

By the way, this is the same photographer who does such wondrous photographs of derelict houses, rusting tin, and lost and abandoned property decaying gently into Florida's rural landscape.   

>
'Lake Eola' by Don Jones |  To see his other photographs, click here |  To see the full-sized version of this photograph at Flickr, click here

I do not own the rights to this photograph.  It is subject to a restricted Creative Commons license, permitting certain limited noncommercial uses.  Before using or downloading it, consult the terms of the applicable license.  You may view it here.

'Florida Scrub Jay = Yoda' by Daniel Godwin | Lake Wales | Creative Commons

This photograph was sent to the photographer by his brother and posted at Flickr under a CC license (yay!)  The photographer's brother explained why this little nestling is be-robed for the photo:

I banded the first brood of Florida Scrub-Jay nestlings at Lake Wales Ridge State Forest (southeastern Polk County) this past Wednesday. One of the nestlings didn't want to come out of the weighing bag (aka a trimmed panty hose), so I had to "peel" the bag away from it. Suddenly the jay looked very much like a well-known, very wise ("Wars not make one great"), and much loved old ... bird (?) [links added fyi by me]

Don't his little claws look like little taloned hands?  This photo has won a certain amount of well-deserved acclaim on Flickr....  This species is under threat due to habitat loss, by the way.   Let's hope we don't lose yet another species of animal people.  I would hate to lose little Yoda.  No wonder he looks a bit annoyed.  Or maybe he just had to deal with an unpromising trainee.

"You worthless at learning Jedi techniques are!  I fed up to the beak with you am!" 
Heh. 

'Florida Scrub Jay = Yoda' by Daniel Godwin | To see his Flickr photostream, click here | To see the full-sized version of this photograph, click here | I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it in compliance with a restricted Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or download it without first consulting the terms of the applicable license.  A link to the license is shown here.

Signs of Cassadaga (Central Florida's Spiritualist Town) | Cassadaga | Creative Commons

Most non-Floridians don't really seem to have heard about Florida's psychic and spiritualist camp, Cassadaga, hidden away in the pine barrens of Central Florida, within about 50-60 miles of Orlando.  You can read more about its history here.

Can I just whisper in your ear that I visited it for fun with my friend Frances in 1996?  And that the reading I received from the psychic I consulted for 'fun' was weirdly accurate for the next three years?  Among other things, she very specifically and clearly described----ignoring my unconcealed skepticism---that (1) my mother would have heart trouble in August, but recover; (2) that I would meet a guy with whom I'd initiate a close friendship---meaning exactly that, a friendship--- that would be very important in my life; (3) that my husband would take a new job in another town that had the word 'Gourmet' in it (the name of the business actually did); that I'd find myself short of money, but would come through it; and much, much else of which not an inkling existed at the time. 

Furthermore, though I rebuffed her when she asked me if I was an artist----I wasn't, and treated the statement with incredulity----she said she saw me working with 'little multi-colored flowers.'  A few weeks later I looked down at the needlepoint I was doing for a one-time-only special gift for my mom:  yep, little multi-colored flowers everywhere.   I didn't imagine what she told me; I have it all on tape.  Yes, I know what you're thinking.  Believe me:  I know.

Frances, on the other hand, didn't have such good luck with hers (if you want to call it good luck).  So I don't know.  I don't 'believe,' but I can say that I met one person whose predictions turned out to be dead on.  I haven't been back; I find I don't want to know what's next with that level of accuracy.  It's unsettling and it's also unclear what you do about it once you realize it's happening.  In fact, there is nothing you can do really, making foreknowledge an exercise in futility.  To paraphrase a character in one of my favorite Ursula LeGuin novels, divination is useful only as an illustration of the uselessness of knowing the right answer to the wrong question.

Anyway, I remember the palms and pine trees, and I remember big, somewhat ramshackle houses of somber aspect heavily shaded by live oaks.  Like many Central Florida towns, it had a certain bleakness in the perpendicular afternoon light, but as the light mellowed, took on that mysterious late afternoon radiance.

 

Cassadaga Signs by Niemster (Matthew Niemi) |  To see his Flickr photostream, click here | Website:  The Niemster |  To see the largest version of this photograph available on Flickr, click here | I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it in compliance with a restricted Creative Commons license allowing for limited noncommercial use.  Before saving or downloading it, please consult the terms of the applicable license.  A link to the license is here.

'Eloise in Cassadaga' by Mlle Sarah (Sarah) |  To see her Flickr photostream, click here | Website:  Pretty Little Bits |  To see the largest version of this photograph available on Flickr, click here |  I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it in compliance with a restricted Creative Commons license allowing for limited noncommercial use.  Before saving or downloading it, please consult the terms of the applicable license.  A link to the license is here.

Um, Sure... by Niemster (Matthew Niemi)  To see his Flickr photostream, click here | Website:  The Niemster |  To see the largest version of this photograph available on Flickr, click here | I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it in compliance with a restricted Creative Commons license allowing for limited noncommercial use.  Before saving or downloading it, please consult the terms of the applicable license.  A link to the license is here.

'Cassadaga'  by errrrrrrrrika|  To see her Flickr photostream, click here |  To see the largest version of this photograph available on Flickr, click here I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it in compliance with a restricted Creative Commons license allowing for limited noncommercial use.  Before saving or downloading it, please consult the terms of the applicable license.  A link to the license is here

'Sunset' by Don Jones | Bunnell | Creative Commons

As I've mentioned before, photographer Don Jones has a real eye for the contrasts and contradictions that constitute the real 'Old Florida' that people who stick to the expressways and attractions never see.   The reality of Florida is complex, involving strange juxtapositions of old and new, beautiful and derelict.  The recognition of this is one reason I'm so drawn to Don Jones' dreamlike photographs of abandoned houses and lost or abandoned objects.  I've tried myself to photograph similar scenes, but had little luck with it.  I think you have to have a special gift to make those shots transform all that chaos into order. 

Here's a well-ordered domestic scene from Bunnell in Flagler County, caught at one of those Florida moments.  This photograph struck me because of the sheer over-the-top magnificence of this sunset in contrast to the sheer matter of fact day-to-dayness of the scene it illuminates. It's a perfect example of the power of photography to capture these momentary transformations of reality----those moments when ordinary things seem fraught with some mystical significance.  If you look carefully at the photograph, you can see each tin-roofed structure reflecting the apricot tint of the sun.  Even the leaves are reflecting it.

'Sunset' by Don Jones |  To see his other photographs, click here |  To see the full-sized version of this photograph at Flickr, click here

I do not own the rights to this photograph.  It is subject to a restricted Creative Commons license, permitting certain limited noncommercial uses.  Before using or downloading it, consult the terms of the applicable license.  You may view it here.

'Pluck' by Greg Turner | Gainesville | Creative Commons

It's a green...orange.   "Noticed the unripe orange out my window and liked the way it looked against the sky," the photographer says.  It looks gorgeous.

 
"Pluck"by Greg Turner |  To see his other photographs, click here |  To see the full-sized photograph at Flickr, click here |

I do not own the rights to this photograph, but am using it in compliance with a restricted Creative Commons license.  Before saving or using it, consult the terms of the applicable license (shown here).

'Pitts House East' by Don Jones | Marion County | Creative Commons

Here's another shot by photographer Don Jones----a complete contrast to the dream- city versions of Orlando here and here.  I live not too far from this very house and I've tried to photograph it myself, but I never managed to get anything this good (or even close). The dark green trees and the very blue sky---that crystalline shade I never have seen anywhere but here---give this melancholy abandoned house an almost cheerful, if endangered air.  After all: are the trees leaning in protectively in a sheltering fashion or is there an air of menace?  I'm guessing that the effect would depend in part on the time of year and the weather....

You could imagine someone returning home to it----I mean from this distance.  You can imagine someone living here. 

I share Don Jones' fascination for old buildings and he has photographed many-many-many (click the link above to see).  But this is one of my favorites.

'Pitts House East' by Don Jones |  To see his other photographs, click here |  To see the full-sized version of this photograph at Flickr, click here.  

I do not own the rights to this photograph.  It is subject to a restricted Creative Commons license, permitting certain limited noncommercial uses.  Before using or downloading it, consult the terms of the applicable license.  You may view it here.

Canal | Crystal River | Feb. 1997

I remember exactly when this photograph was taken and I'm fairly sure it was in Crystal River (which we were passing through on our way home).  The occasion is quite clear in my mind.  We stopped on a bridge so I could take it.  It's a lovely Florida winter scene, with lovely winter color....

'No Picnic' | Cedar Island | Winter, c. 1997

My late husband Don took this photograph during a day trip to western Florida (Taylor County).  We just stumbled upon this row of houses out on the Gulf---very quiet, very peaceful, very silent.  There was a little park nearby and Don took this photograph.  You can see the beautiful blue-green cedar in the background.  It's a lovely Florida winter scene.

'Great Blue Heron' by George Thomas | Sanford | Creative Commons

Look at this creature.  Is he not magnificent?  This is a Great Blue Heron. 

When I lived in Central Florida years ago, my stepdaughter gave one of the herons that used to hang around our apartment complex (it was on a pond) a piece of her tuna sandwich.  After that, the heron and his mate used to come to our door every afternoon and bang on the door with their beaks.  Their squawks sound approximately like a pile of china plates falling down and breaking on a stone floor..  My neighbors weren't best pleased. 

This was taken in the Central Florida town of Sanford.

'Great Blue Heron at Sanford, Florida' by George Thomas (hz536n) | To see his other photos (Flickr photostream), click here | To see the full-sized version of this photo at Flickr, click here 

I do not own the rights to this Creative Commons photograph, but am using it pursuant to a restricted Creative Commons license.  Do not save or use it without first consulting the terms of the license. The license is shown here.

Some "Manatee Springs" of Western Florida (Creative Commons)

Because of the enthralling Nature Coast wildlife and the beautiful springs, Homosassa Springs and Manatee Springs are popular places for snorkeling and kayaking.  Here are some lovely photographs.  I have a few of my own, but they really don't do justice to the place.

While canoeing at Manatee Springs, I did see a manatee.  It swam right up alongside the boat (but the photograph just shows a sort of shiny wet lump).  They are very gentle, curious creatures, it seems, which is why there are so many restrictions on boating along that coast.    

Systems Librarian has the best photographs of  various Florida springs I've seen anywhere on the net----and Florida has hundreds of beautiful springs.  As well as the many beautiful photos at Flickr, see:  Florida Springs.

Manatee Springs State Park (Levy County, Florida) by SystemsLibrarian | Florida Springs | To see more photographs by Systems Librarian, click here | To see the full-sized version of this photograph at Flickr, click here 

I do not own the rights to this Creative Commons photograph, but am using it in compliance with a Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or use this photograph without consulting the terms of the applicable license (shown here).

 

Manatee Springs State Park (Levy County, Florida) by SystemsLibrarian | To see more photographs by Systems Librarian, click here | To see the full-sized version of this photograph at Flickr, click here

I do not own the rights to this Creative Commons photograph, but am using it in compliance with a Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or use this photograph without consulting the terms of the applicable license (shown here).

"Homosassa Springs, Florida, December 27, 2007" by Rebecca  | website:  MeanLouise.com |  "About a dozen manatees swam in for the afternoon," she writes | To see more of her photographs, click here |  To see the full-sized version of this photograph at Flickr, click here |

I do not own the rights to this Creative Commons photograph, but am using it in compliance with a Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or use this photograph without consulting the terms of the applicable license (shown here).

This beautiful manatee was photographed in Crystal River by biologist Steven Erat, on a snorkeling trip at Crystal River.  Manatees have some of the nicest faces of any animal.   

 

"Manatee at Crystal River" by Steven Erat | website:  Talking Tree | To see more of his photographs, click here |  To see the full-sized version of this photograph at Flickr, click here

I do not own the rights to this Creative Commons photograph, but am using it in compliance with a Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or use this photograph without consulting the terms of the applicable license (shown here).

 

"Manatee at Crystal River" by Steven Erat | website:  Talking Tree | To see more of his photographs, click here |  To see the full-sized version of this photograph at Flickr, click here

I do not own the rights to this Creative Commons photograph, but am using it in compliance with a Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or use this photograph without consulting the terms of the applicable license (shown here).

 

"West Indian Manatee and Nursing Calf, Crystal River" by  Allen BS |  To see more of his photographs, click here |  To see the full-sized version of this image at Flickr, click here

I do not own the rights to this Creative Commons photograph, but am using it in compliance with a Creative Commons license.  Please do not save or use this photograph without consulting the terms of the applicable license (shown here).