Cold and drought still hangs around west Central Florida. The cold, morning temperatures in the 30s, first appearing mid November, gave a few weeks of respite, and have occurred on and off since then. While we often get temperatures like that during a winter, usually it happens only two or three times, well spaced, with our usual warmer weather in-between, not the frequency we have seen. With it this year continues a lingering drought. Between the two, many natural areas show more brown than green, and the green still visible is not the usual shades of vibrant green. Walking and hiking around the area, we see more leaves off trees, likely shed to save water, and more brown plants, some effected by drought and some killed by frost.
Walking along a boardwalk I saw this leaf, sitting up with other leaves around it. We noticed it and walked by, then I went back and lying on my stomach on the boardwalk I took the shot. The arrangement looked perfect, and disappeared in the next puff of wind. We walked down by the creek, and saw the water down considerably. This bird flew by and took shelter in the roots where normally the creek would flow, puffed up against the cold and wind.
In personal news, Karl and I realized somewhat suddenly a couple of months ago that maintaining and traveling in the larger RV with a tow car at some point became too much for us. Not ready to sit home, and preferring to stay in natural spaces when we travel, we downsized to a camper van, well used but in good condition. After 16 years in larger campers (even the other van we had was longer by 2 feet), we are adjusting to the size, as is Midnight the cat. We are excited by the flexibility the change to a vehicle that fits in a standard parking space gives us. We now have the ability to easily detour from a route if we see something interesting, and pull over and explore more as we travel.
Our forecast seems to promise this latest cold and wind will end by tomorrow, and the long range is for more seasonable weather. Fingers crossed!
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