Miakka School House

I just love little old school houses, like this one, the Miakka School House. According to an historic marker, it was constructed in 1914 for a whopping $1,400.  It was the first public school to be constructed using school bonds in Manatee County, which is a little confusing because this site is located in Sarasota County.  (Turns out, 7 years after the school opened, the area became known as Sarasota County.)  Although the school house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, I'm not sure about its status now and whether it's open to the public.

MLK Day

This bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. is located at MLK Park in Sarasota. Inscribed below is a quote from the civil rights leader which reads, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."  If you happen to be in the Sarasota area, there's a celebration of MLK's life at the park noon - 6 p.m. today.  

Budding Bud

About 50 yards down the road from yesterday's photo, I spotted this sight: a flower poking out of a Bud Light bottle securely fastened to a barbed wire fence. The flower was fresh and a few cigarette butts lined the bottom of the bottle.  Makes me wonder why someone would take the time to tie this to a fence in the middle of nowhere.

Tangerine and Blue

It's a perfect time of year to go for a drive in the country here. I was in the middle of nowhere, east of I-75, when I encountered this citrus scene. I love the bright orange tangerines against the cobalt blue winter sky. It makes me wonder if perhaps this is how the University of Florida, a land grant college, came up with its school colors: orange and blue.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Granted, I could not see the rose color that's supposed to be on this woodpecker's belly to indicate that it is indeed a red-bellied woodpecker, but after scouring through my trusty Birds of Florida manual, I've determined it cannot be: a pileated woodpecker, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker or a red-headed woodpecker, which leaves the red-bellied. Anyway, I heard this little fellow pecking on a branch at Selby Five Points Park in downtown Sarasota.  Affter staring upward for awhile, I finally spotted him. Even with that shock of red, he wasn't easy to locate. One of my loyal followers in Houston (who happened to miss her flight from Tampa back to Texas due to a triple overtime football game - oops!) mentioned she recently saw a beautiful woodpecker and wished I would have been there to capture the moment.   Well, I missed that one....so, I offer this red-bellied instead.

Hari

As soon as I saw this guy sitting outside Whole Foods in downtown Sarasota I had to meet him.  Look at that face...those droopy jowls...blood shot eye and unusual combination of colors!   Adorable.   His name is Hari and he's a 15-month-old English setter with a very sweet demeanor  -- such a gentleman.  I've encountered a lot of Irish setters, but never an English setter.  I must say, he's representing his breed well.  He just moved here from St. Pete (with his mom, Rosemary) and I think he'll fit in quite nicely in this dog friendly town.  During my brief meet-and-greet, three other people came up to say hello.  Welcome!

The Early Bird...

...gets the bald eagle!  Armed with my Christmas binoculars, long lens, tripod, and a mug of hot coffee I set out before sunrise yesterday morning in search of my elusive eagle.  I drove by Ed Smith Stadium, spring home of the Baltimore Orioles, and didn't see him.  In the few minutes it took me to park and look up again, he had materialized high up on the third base lights just as the sun was rising. (Oh, he's tricky!)

After basking in the warm sun for a bit, he took off heading south, most likely in search of breakfast.  Since I had my camera locked down on the tripod with a 2-second time delay, I was happy to get this one shot.  He's big, but he's fast!  I waited around for about 30 minutes, expecting him to return clutching a large fish in his talons, but alas, that will have to happen some other day.  By the way, there are no signs he has built a nest at the stadium (which he, or another eagle, did last year causing some issues).