"It's 5 o' clock somewhere"

Spring's been such a tease in these parts. Just when we were beginning to shed warm clothing, chill's back in the air. It's not the sun that I miss as much as the lack of activity in these parts due to chilly temps. My husband misses Florida sunshine far more than he thought he would. These sunny images from our earlier trips to Key West are for him. Anna, they take care of the Project Yellow too, don't they :)

Dream a little dream with me :)

"The wall is silence, the grass is sleep,
Tall trees of peace their vigil keep,
And the Fairy of Dreams with moth-wings furled
Plays soft on her flute to the drowsy world."
~Ida Rentoul Outhwaite

The teeny weeny bundle of joy is a friend’s. My heart is warm and all is right with the world :)

Cà d'Zan Mansion

These are from the happier sunnier times in Florida : the terracotta palazzo of John and Mable Ringling of the Ringling Circus fame.

As we reached the end of our stay in Florida, we tried to "do" places around us that we had not earlier. Ca d'Zan had been on the list for long and it was about time we paid it a visit. The Venetian style mansion overlooking Sarasota bay had me click-happy for the better part of the afternoon we spent there :) The details in tiles, balconies, stairways, wrought iron grills were too pretty to ignore.

The Graduates

:) We graduated yesterday in our academic regalia, amidst radiant smiles and bushels of congratulatory wishes. One chapter ends, another begins. I am gonna miss all that the old one entailed.......As my husband and I move on to find our niche in Corporate America, I am gonna miss working with him (outside home, that is :D). Did I tell you before that we worked for the same advisor, had more or less taken same classes, were an unbeatable team in projects we undertook together, and were what you can call BOGO offer, that's "Buy One Get One free" for the acronym-challenged??? :D

The object of my affection :)

Results of my fooling around with camera while my husband single-handedly works upon our impending move to the other coast this January.

!!!!!!!!!

I feel weird posting these!!!! While Old Man Winter seems to be busy painting North white, it looks and feels like Spring in these parts!!!! Would one of you please pack some snow and send my way????

"The Key Note"

"Where are the songs I used to know,
Where are the notes I used to sing?
I have forgotten everything
I used to know so long ago. "
Christina Rossetti

Bird Watching at Lake Okeechobee

"Ahhh!!! The bliss of solitude"

Three's a crowd??? Love the way they seem to be saying "Look there!!" :)

Gone Fishin'!

They say, "Good things come to those who bait!"

Looks like, they do! :)

We are back from our trip to Key West and this time, the trip was more about enjoying the relaxed, unpretentious vibe of the island than exploring the place. It was warmer than expected at this time of the year but the friend from Michigan appreciated the dose of Florida sunshine while we totally, absolutely loved his company :)

Red Hot Miami ;D

The color scheme in Miami is Crayola! As the afore-mentioned cousin exclaimed "Ostentatious!!!" in his impeccable British accent at the first glimpse of the city, my husband and I could not help but chuckle :) Few minutes around the city and he was agog with child-like enthusiasm, "This is exactly how you see Miami in movies!!!" he spluttered as we drove him around Ocean Drive and Collins Avenue. He was totally amused by the whimsical Art Deco buildings. It's fun to act like tourist guides for family and friends....and now we have a friend down from Michigan for Thanksgiving holidays whom we get to show around Southern Florida. Off we go to Miami and Key West again.....I feel like a Key West veteran already...this is my third trip there within a year's time!!!!!!!

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving, all !!!! :)

Red Heads ;D

This summer, my husband's journalist cousin was down from UK to soak in the Florida sun. An avid reader of the award-winning works of Miami Herald's Carl Hiaasen on South Florida's unchecked development and its effects on Everglades' ecosystem, he insisted we take him to Lake Okeechobee. This summer was one of the driest here and Lake showed the damage done by the intense summer and insatiable greed of man. The second largest fresh water lake in the country showed one of the record low water levels while I am assuming that grass on golf courses glistened. An embarrassment of riches??? It was on our way back from lake, when we met this red head. I was busy admiring her till her partner came towards me in what was clearly an aggressive stance, almost screaming, "leave us alone, will ya?".......I captured them on my lens and scooted :)

Update: The red heads are sandhill cranes.

Fire in the sky!

A walk into the sunset (well, almost :D)

As temperatures come down, sunsets seem to get intense. Today was one of those days: a slight nip in the air and we had to head seawards to catch the sunset. It was about time we hit the beach anyways, considering that we have been cooped inside for too long. As you can see, we were not disappointed. The sun on its way out created such fiery reflections in the waters and the skies that almost everyone stopped and watched as sea slowly consumed the glowing ball.

Calla

Care for a plastic Calla, anyone??? :) It's been great weather in these parts of Florida these days and now that most of the deadlines have been taken care of, we are busy relishing it.....Hope you all had a great Halloween and are looking forward to a great weekend ahead :)

"Up, Up and Away!"

Nothing unique about this pic but it so aptly depicts my current state of affairs: at the end of my tether, ready to break into a flight any minute. The countdown's begun..one week from now we defend our theses and while it's been a rough going presently.......it's now only 7 more days of misery!!!!!!

Thanks all for giving me company while I am spending my nights away in the lab. Amidst all those number crunching and typing, a new comment in my mailbox always leaves me smiling and visiting your blogs gives me that much needed break :)

"Rear Window" ;D

The Window to Key West.

What does one do when there are no new pics to share? Simple! Dig into the old collection, re-live the times well spent in past and share them here :)

This was the view from the rear window of Key West Light House that gave a glimpse, almost like a teaser, of the beauty that's gonna unfold before us as we schlep ourselves through 88 steps to reach the top. They are pretty considerate folks out there: you get to sport a badge after you have climbed the steps, to announce your achievement to the world :D

And below is one of the several spectacular views of the island from the top. I love the blue ocean merging with the sky in the backdrop. Have a great weekend!!! :)

"Wild, Free, Spontaneous"

This one's for Blue who long back had expressed her desire to see wild flowers from Florida. They are not a common sight in the hot, muggy climes of a landscaped Florida so when I recently spotted these bunch of scraggly wild flowers (White Cinquefoil???) growing in gay abandon, I had to click them.

I love wildflowers : they have, for the most part, minds of their own - springing up amidst bushes, trees, along the street or a stream, sweeping across hills and abandoned pastures, adding a touch of wild, unkempt, spontaneous beauty to the place. That even William Blake sang paeans to them does not go unnoticed!

PS: I have recently discovered this collage tool I am mighty stoked about, so please indulge moi for sometime, while I get over my latest craze for collages and get back to the regular way of posting .......:)

Rhapsody in Red :)

There's only so much of number crunching my teeny-weeny head can take. So I finally put my work aside and decided to make hay (or shall I say photos) while the sun shines gloriously in Florida.

Steve from New Orleans Daily Photo has tagged moi to list 8 Random facts about myself. Earlier Radha and Granati too tagged me for something similar. I decided to pull up my socks and finally do the tag. Here you go! :)

1. I am born allergic to UV rays...so stepping out in sun even for 5 minutes leaves me with a potential chance of getting a nasty sunburn. That explains why I love rains as much, I guess.

2. I'm a hopeless, incurable romantic.

3. Sometimes I think I was just not born with the music gene. I can't even hum a tune right : One reason why I hold musicians in such awe.

4. Day dreams are my mini getaway. Often, you'll find me dreaming with my eyes open.

5. I have wanted to be a teacher, a doctor, a tennis star, a journalist (in that order) at different stages of my life and ended up being neither of them.

6. The tennis star bit of dream (too pie-in-the-sky, I know) was partly due to Steffi Graf and partly coz I totally love those cute tennis skirts :D

7. I want to travel for a living and I want to take my husband along. But I want to be able to come back (whenever I want) to a modest, pretty place that I can call home. Guess, I want it all or I do not know what I want!!!! (Can you count the "wants" here :D)

8. I can go on and on with my "I's" ...... it's time fellow-bloggers shared a little of themselves with moi. I will love to know you better. Please take up the tag and let me know that you did.

With or without the tag, have a great Sunday, all :)

Spent

Spent.This is how I feel right now after sending the preliminary report to my advisor.But chuck that!!! I shall not mix academics with pleasure :)

In a land inhabited by Oaks, a Maple tree is such a welcome sight. I had no clue that Florida has some till very recently, on my way back home from school, I noticed this solitary leaf lying close to our stairway and I had to exclaim "Look at what the wind blew in" :) Thence began my search for the Holy Grail called Maple and surprisingly I found the source of my joy not far from my home, over the fence :) And just in case it's not Maple and you know better, I beg you not to burst my bubble!!!!

Meanwhile I was hoping to share this lovely video (on Autumn) and this post seems to be a perfect fit. It lasts less than a minute but leaves you smiling. Have a look :)

Poetry on my Shower Curtain ;)

What's on yours??? :D

I am under house/lab arrest currently. My husband and I are defending our theses in the final week of this month and there's hardly any time for anything other than research and thesis work right now. That explains the series of indoor shots here. I'm itching to step out, more so with the weather being fabulous and light glorious in late afternoons but--- if wishes were horses!!!!!

"The Lamp in a Window"

"She left a lamp lit in the window,
To shine it's beacon soft and warm,
In case a stranger might be wandering,
Cold and hungry, far from home."

For some strange reason I find this one image very reminiscent of the Dickensian world. Must be my imagination running amok!!!!