Friday Foto Friends - Signs of Seasons

Friday Foto Friends Signs of Seasons

Spotted Horsemint, also known as Bee-Balm

 Hello to all my Friday Foto Friends!  I look forward to this time each week...an opportunity to share some photos from whatever has been going on in our lives.  These are some of the pictures I captured on our walks each day...subtle signs of the changing of the seasons.  The summer flowers are fading and now the late summer/early fall flowers and berries are appearing...preparing for the "cooler days"  of fall ahead. Where I live, in Florida, a cooler day might be when the temperature stays in the low 80's instead of the 90's...but we will be happy to have it.  We get especially happy when the temps drop down in the 70's in the daytime and the humidity drops as well.

God's Bouquet:  Beautyberry  and Spotted Horsemint with a trail of wild grapevine surrounding it.

Ever hear about "paw-paws"?  These are wild paw-paw fruits...almost ripe and ready for the wild animals to enjoy. They are edible for humans too, but these aren't really big enough to get much out of.  They have large seeds.

Close up of the Beauty Berries.  The birds, deer, and bears will enjoy these soon. It is also an edible weed, but very tart, and not recommended.  It can be made into a natural insect repellent!

Not a weed!  This is one of my beautiful Don Juan Roses blooming in our Memorial Garden. It smells divine.Click HERE for more about the significance of the Memorial Garden

Goldenrod is starting to bloom everywhere I look...

This is wild sumac...the blossom will turn into red berries that the birds love.  We have a lot of this growing around us here in the forest. I consider it to be a natural bird feeder! The Cardinals and Catbirds seems to love the berries.

Here is a red-bellied woodpecker pecking away at this old dead tree. Last year the woodpeckers had built quite a nice nest in this tree and then a storm came along and blew the top off, leaving them exposed to the elements! So they just moved to another tree the same day!For more about THAT story, click HERE

This is one of our beautiful mama deer in our neighborhood. She was looking at her fawn, to make sure she was safe since I was hanging around.   For more about THIS story, click HERE

She was just fine...

Listen to the words of King Solomon, written in the 10th century, B.C.

"To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born,

And a time to die;

A time to plant,

and a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill,

And a time to heal;

A time to break down,

And a time to build up;

A time to weep,

And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones,

And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace,

And a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain,

And a time to lose;

A time to keep,

And a time to throw away;

A time to tear,

And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence,

And a time to speak;

A time to love,

And a time to hate;

A time of war,

And a time of peace."

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Yes, the seasons are preparing for change...all of nature testifies to this.  We ourselves are changing day by day.  We grow, we mature, we get older...and hopefully wiser.  If we look around in our world, we see many other signs of change...change in our culture, our environment, and in our society. Many changes we wish we could stop...some changes are not good...and we oftentimes become anxious about our future.  

But there is one thing we can be sure of:

  

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." 

 (Hebrews 13:8)

So, 

"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.  For He Himself (God) has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you"

So we may boldly say:

"The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

Hebrews 13:5-6

 As we approach this season of change, whether it be seasonal, personal, or things of the world,  let us put our trust in the Lord and not fear.  He has promised to be there for us, no matter WHAT the changes of life.

Now, jump on over to see what others are sharing on Friday Foto Friends (Click HERE)!