Friday Foto Friends...As Dawn Awakens

It's Friday morning, and this week has been one for the record books in heat and dryness here in Florida.  I haven't been able to get out much since it has been so very hot, and plus we were dealing with our air conditioner breaking down right at the worst of it...after several days of suffering and waiting for our AC man to figure out exactly what was wrong and finding the right part to fix it, we are finally now back to normal and I can breathe again!  So thankful for the invention of air conditioning. I grew up in Florida without it, and let me tell you, that is not a pretty sight! But we were young and played outside most of the time anyway, so we didn't know the difference. No one else had it either, so we all sweated together!!  But now that we are so accustomed to having it, even one day without it is miserable.  But after seeing what others are dealing with around our nation...horrifying tornadoes, floods, and even fires, I must count my blessings and give praise to God for His protection over us, and for being with us even during times of a bit of inconvenience and discomfort.  God is good...all the time, God is good. 

So, I woke up this morning and realized that I didn't have any new pictures to share with you today, so I hurriedly took a little "walkabout" the neighborhood to see what I could see before it got too hot to go out.  Won't you come along with me?


Okay, this is the one picture I took earlier this week, one hot afternoon as I went out to get our mail.  I looked above me and saw this squirrel spread out on this perfect Y branch, trying to keep his belly cool... at least that is what I think he was doing.  He never even budged when I walked under him and stopped to take his picture. He was really relaxed and happy...

So happy to see that the crepe myrtles are starting to bloom in the garden!  I love it when they bloom...they brighten up the yard and brighten up my day...

When I got to the pond, the sun was just rising up behind this big cloud...Isn't that beautiful? And the reflection in the water is actually a better view of the glow around the top of the cloud...

As I surveyed the water to see if anything was out there, I discovered this bird having his breakfast.

At first I thought it was one of the Sand Hill Cranes, but when I got a better view here on the computer, I can see this is something totally different...but I'm not sure what.

Okay, I just looked it up. It is a "Limpken", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limpkin, and I discovered that it is actually a threatened species. 

Here is a video about it,  and now I know that I was very privileged to see this bird in action here this morning.  (This video is from YouTube, not my video, but it also tells more about it this bird in the info underneath the video.)

After watching the bird, I moved on around to the other side of the road, and wanted to take a picture of this little vacation home, aptly named "Reality Check". 

Next I headed back toward home, and just snapped a few more pictures of some of my favorite picturesque spots along the way.  Many of these vacation homes are hardly ever used, which I think is so sad. But at least I can enjoy the beauty of their views while the people are away. 

My favorite little red A-frame in the morning light:

Back to my own yard again, and these trumpet vine flowers are blooming...I used to call them "witches fingers" when I was a little girl. I remember them growing at my Uncle's farm in Pennsylvania, and my cousins and I would pick the flowers and stick them on the ends of our fingers and call them "witches fingers".  Silly kid stuff. Did you ever do that? 

And one of my favorite views, the early morning sun in the Secret Garden...

Psalm 63:1-5

1. "O God, You are my God;

Early will I seek You;

My soul thirsts for You;

My flesh longs for You

In a dry and thirsty land

Where there is no water.

2.  So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,

To see Your power and Your glory.

3.  Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,

My lips shall praise You.

4.  Thus will I bless You while I live'

I will lift up my hands in Your name.

5.  My soul shall be satisfied as 

with marrow and fatness,

and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips."

I pray that you and yours will have a blessed and beautiful day and weekend.  Thank you for sharing this special time with me today.  You are friends that I cherish greatly.