Minutes before the storm....

Captured just some minutes before a BIG thunderstorm over St.Augustin, FL

Hi my friends,

We are enjoying Florida and it's afternoon showers accompanied with scary looking thunderstorms and a black-as-the-night-sky. But, it's beautiful to see this act of mother nature!

Thank you all so much for the nice comments to my last post :)

We are tired from driving today - need some rest.
Stay with me and see you again tomorrow!
Susanne

On a Lazy Wednesday Afternoon...

Yesterday afternoon we had very pretty and also impressive clouds in the sky. We went down to the open water at the Indian River again to enjoy nature and the still warm evening sunshine and to watch things going on, in the sky and in the water too.

There was a big swarm of flying black birds loud screaming in the clouds...

A small airplane getting ready for landing by the close local airport...

The golden shine of the water in the last sunshine beams...

And then we discovered to our surprise a BIG stingray floating by in the clear waters. If you click on the picture you maybe be able to see his eyes, looking straight to me. I never have seen a stingray in my life for real and this was my big excitement for the day :)

And it looks like fall in Florida! The leafs are still falling from the trees and covering the paths. I love the sound walking trough the leafs.

I want to say also THANK YOU to all my friends who made all these kind comments on my blog in the last few days. I do appreciate your words very much, your tips, your recommendations and your compliments too. I have decided, I don't write an answer to every single comment anymore, if you don't mind.... My Wi-Fi connections here on this campground are o.k., but just o.k. and not good. I get more disconnected then connected and most of the time when I'm in the middle of my writings or uploading photos....phew... I hope you understand. :)

Coming Saturday we will be "on the road" again, leaving here more South but not knowing just now, where we will be the next week.
Stay tuned with me, I'll try to post again as soon as I can.

*******

My first photo book about Key West is published now!
A pretty book not only for Key West fans...!
"Good Times in Key West - Seven Years in Paradise"
You can see a preview and place your order here


********

The CALENDARS for 2009 are still available to buy:

* KEY WEST CALENDARS 2009
* CHARLESTON CALENDARS 2009
* FLORIDA CALENDARS 2009
* FLOWER CALENDARS 2009

Quiet Waters and Grey Clouds

In the summer of our lifetimes, the skies were always blue
We'd weave our dreams with noble thoughts and dreams could all come true
Believe in all your youthful dreams and they'll live on for you
When the grey September clouds go drifting by



Read more about this poem here:
Tommy Makem Lyrics



my NEW CHARLESTON CALENDARS 2009 are available now!



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A BigThunderstorm Is Moving In

I promised you some days ago to show you more of those very dramatic thunderstorm clouds moving in over our heads, out of James Island.
A fantastic play of mother nature!

There were dark clouds out on the water...

and more dark clouds in the back...

and in between was the sun shining trough and made this dynamic scene

Big international traffic by the Ravanel bridge

Dolphins were swimming in groups in the bay area

A pretty place to sit down and relax, to watch and to enjoy nature

These five dogs needed a cool bath too on that hot
summer day late afternoon

Also friends found some time together to chat, watching the fishing pelicans and the boats going by. I love to enjoy afternoons like this!

That Was Yesterday....

Yesterday, it was a very hot summer day afternoon and it was our anniversary day.

After visiting the art museum in Charleston (more pictures will come about that) and after a great Ice cream "snack" we decided to go out again to our preferred place at James Island. But pretty soon BIG thunderclouds were forming over our heads and wonderful dark clouds moved in from the back. I love nature spectacles like that!

I will show you more pictures from the museum and more from this spot here with jumping dolphins, big oil tankers on the water and more thunder clouds. (Maybe I should save some pics for the "Friday Sky Watch" play).. ;-)

So then my friends, just stay tuned and come back any times. Oh, by the way..... comments are welcome too! :-)

On a Cloudy and Windy Day Like This....

Pretty clouds make a nice back ground

Charleston seen from James Island

Container ship docks in the harbor

Private boat docks going out to the water

The wind was blowing me almost away :-)

A very small but pretty beach

A close up with my long lens of the Ravanel bridge - it looks like the bridge is just around the corner, right?

It was a pretty afternoon yesterday, the wind was blowing like crazy and the clouds were fantastic in the sky. I like to feel the wind on my skin and to smell the salty water, watching people at the beach and capturing some great moments in time. I have more pictures tomorrow about this small spot out somewhere on Johns Island in Charleston, so stay tuned! :-)

My wordless Sunday #8

Tropical Beach Scenes

I'm back to my "good old" Palm pictures again.... The pictures are new, but the subject is "old". And I have to tell you again: I love palm trees!

Single palm at Smather's Beach on a cloudy day

That looks like rain out there on the horizon!

Smather's beach is normally empty on a day like this....

...except a sleeping beach bum who is dreaming there on the bench, probably about some better days he had in the past.

Look up to the sky

Storm clouds forming in the north

Lovely evening clouds behind the Oleander tree

It looks like rain is coming any time

These are typical hot summer day clouds

These are the reflections of clouds in the water on the street

I love to photograph also all the different cloud formations what we have here on this island - especial now, this time of the year.

Just a perfect day

This pictures was made at the beach in Bahia-Honda-State-Park
on a "just a perfect day"
in paradise.

Cloud Impressions after the Storm

What a big and impressive cloud between my two palms in the yard!

This is the view to the south down in my street....

and this is the view to the north where more of the thunder clouds were forming - and it was raining very hard pretty soon again...

...and then, finally it was over!

Golden reflections in the water.

Yesterday the rain never stopped in paradise - Thunderstorms were rumbling on and off and it seems it will never end to be gray and wet. But to the evening finally it stopped and at sunset time we had these wonderful cloud formations around the house. Aren't they majestic and impressive? I had to take some pictures!

A Visit to the Dry Tortugas - Series 6

Take a ride with this small airplane for visiting the Dry Tortugas Islands or catch the Ferry early in the morning.

This picture is the view from the top of Fort Jefferson and it gives me a feeling of eternity, peace and freedom: only blue water, clouds and horizon where ever your eyes are looking around.

After a very intresting guided tour in Fort Jefferson, take a walk on the walls all around the fort and enjoy nature, sunshine and the blue color of the water. You also will see many snorklers enjoying the crystal clear underwater scene.

It's just a perfect day out there - another part of paradise!

The white sandbar is the bird sanctuary across from Fort Jefferson.

Purple Sunset

After a big rainfall the sky looks sometimes like this when the sun is setting down.