@joyces Wow, I love those photos! How fun to have elk and deer coming by to visit. Yes, that fawn is so cute licking its chops in response to a delicious snack! Thanks for sharing!

@joyces, @californiazebra, @alive, @johnbishop, @gingerw, and all...Oh, my goodness! How blessed your fur neighbors are to have you as a friend. Apples must be a real treat, based on that little one's expression. He looks like he's thanking you and asking for more at the same time. You are in a wonderful place to share with the deer and other nature.

I think my trees, mostly live oaks-some 150-250 years old, various pines, palms of course, bay, maple, and others are one of my favorites. The development by humans in Florida has destroyed so much natural beauty, although we have preserved some areas, especially with the older trees. I've watched and literally cried after driving to work on our road surrounded by pine forests with scattered live oaks and others, then driving home to bare land! So horribly disrespectful to our world and each other...I love our trees! And where do the possums and raccoons and snakes and turtles and rabbits and owls and herons and all the other wildlife find new homes??? This is one reason I have way too many wild bird feeders and baths on my patio and back area. My tiny little contribution to help them survive living with us.
It'll be interesting to see how our Florida weather evolves over the next several years. As I mentioned, last year we had a very early freeze that damaged/killed several of my front and back plants, our azaleas, and others were caught by surprise. Then, a sudden late freeze did the same with the spring-blooming plants. It was a crazy winter...and this summer we've had extremely high temps for long stretches of time, as did the Northwest and other areas. Our rainy summer has been pretty normal, with daily afternoon rains and quite a few heavy storms this year. September is our dangerous hurricane season, which begins in June but September is when we have the big blows here, in northern Florida. I pray we don't get hit hard this year. We all need a break from disaster and illness and pandemics and inflation!

I don't have a generator to help when the electricity is out for several days. In 1964, we had Hurricane Dora hit NE Florida, a rare direct hit, and lost many coastal homes and beaches were damaged badly. We had no electricity for 3 weeks! My first year in Jacksonville! Since, we had a couple of years with snowfall, that stuck and caused havoc on our streets, and ice storms that closed our multiple high brides crossing the St. Johns River within Jax., both quite rare but occasional. I tend to flood easily, so am working now to prepare with some extra drainage rock around my place and some PIG flood protectors for doors and patios. Can't handle sandbags or even bags of garden soil I used for years...too heavy for me now.

I must have my bi-pap and oxygen at night to sleep or to survive, and lower humidity to breathe, so electricity for me is not a luxury. I can't go to a hotel with the machines so cumbersome, so must make some arrangements soon. Ain't the aging process fun! I love being 76, and look forward to 80, but do need to breathe!

It's a lovely, warm sunny day here today. Looks like we may have an afternoon rain, but that's normal and welcome. The 80s are a huge improvement over the 99-110 we were seeing...
Blessings and lovely days to all...Elizabeth