Photos from Ormond Beach, Florida

Just a few photos while I'm sorting and resizing and deciding which ones to choose to paint! This first was the view from our diningroom table - each meal was spent sitting and watching the waves roll in. The first few days were windy and chilly and wet but by Wednesday the sun broke through and stayed.

The beach was a cinnamon color but soft sand and easy walking. The water was a bit nippy over your feet (I did not go into the water).

Squadrons of pelicans flew over every day, north and then south, but I could never get a great photo of them.

And the main reason we go to that area of Florida is to visit the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine to see the nesting birds. They have great white egrets, snowy egrets, tricolor herons, little blue herons, wood storks, and other birds, all preening and building nests and watching over eggs and feeding squawking babies. It's quite a sight!

And the Alligator Farm is named for the dozens of species of alligators that call the place home. And the number of alligators in the water and on land underneath all the trees are why the birds nest and raise their young there. Why? The gators keep out all other predators and the gators often get a snack in return (yes, the birds often lose a chick in nature's way: they often have 2-3 chicks and the weakest one will be tossed out so the strongest survive and grow).

Ok, back to laundry....