Tuesday 4~Our Town

 Our Town  

The Caboose in our historic downtown

Hello! This is Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 where we ask just 4 questions each week in an effort to get you blogging, thinking and learning about others.

Maybe we can discuss the town you live in. It might be nice to find out more about where you live and why you live there. Sometimes we just fall into a place and other times we \choose.
Here's a chance to sing the praises of your town or uncover it's faults.. have at it!


1. What are the good points to living in your town? Could you interest us in moving there?

Well, you'd have to want to live in North Central Florida, which is not in the tourist belt of Florida, thank goodness! It's a rather rural community without any real claim to fame, but there is that small town feel to it, and there are lots of lakes and wooded areas and it's still not terribly expensive to live here. But it's definitely not fancy. There are more manufactured homes on dirt roads in this area than there are "real homes" on paved roads.  We are fortunate that our manufactured home happens to be on a paved road!  And even though our own "Still Waters Pond" is still very dry, little by little we are getting more rain and we hope by the end of the summer we will see our pond restored back to its original beauty.

 

This is one of many little lakes in our community...Lake Lagonda.

2. Are the things you need convenient to your home? (shopping, library, schools, entertainment?)

We have a local small grocery store, a public library, elementary-high school, several Dollar General Stores and gas stations/handy stores, thrift stores, a McDonalds, Dunkin' Donuts, Taco Bell, and some other small privately owned cafe's. Our doctor's office is also very convenient, as is also the CVS Pharmacy, and the nearest hospital is about 15 miles away. Also in the city that is 15 miles away is a Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, and all the basic things you need to survive. Restaurants, Publix, and many other kinds of businesses. We are centrally located between two cities, Palatka to our east, and Gainesville to our west. And St. Augustine is about an hour away to the east.  Also, we can get to the beach on the Atlantic coast in about an hour, or we could go to the Gulf Coast on the west also in a little over an hour, so we truly are in a prime location. Thankfully the hurricanes do not impact our area quite as seriously as they do closer to the coasts.  

One of our newer shopping experiences in our community is this "Trading Post at Deep Creek":

And as I've mentioned before, our son actually works there part time and also has a booth inside where he sells some of the wooden craft items that he builds.

It's a fun and interesting place to visit and shop!

There's also another newer store in town, Blue Pond Market, and it is similar to the type of store our family once owned known as "Dixie Cottage", for those of you who remember that season of our lives!

It is named "Blue Pond Market" because our little town was originally named "Blue Pond", and this old house has been here since the "beginning of time", so to speak.  

"Interlachen, Florida, was originally known as "Blue Pond" from roughly 1852 until the 1880s. The settlement earned its name from one of the area's clear, spring-fed lakes, and was established when early pioneers, including Pennsylvania native Dr. O.S. Whipp, built log cabins along its shores. [1, 2, 3]"

And yes, our son does sell some of his wood working products there as well!

Currently it is only open on Saturdays, so don't come during the week expecting to shop there or you will be disappointed!

3. Did you choose your town or did you just end up there?

We chose to move here when our son married a sweet young lady who lived here. We fell in love with the little church where they got married and the people here, and we wanted to live closer to our son. Our previous home was about 30 miles away and in a very rural community without very many amenities for "older folks like us".  Once both our sons moved away from there, we just felt like we were too far from civilization, so we sold our home there and moved here.

Our church, Interlachen Methodist Church

4. Is your town known for any special foods, activities, places or people?

Our town is named "Interlachen" (click HERE for link to the town information), which means "between the lakes".  There are many lakes in this area, and so it is popular for fishing and for people seeking a place away from the cities. But it is definitely NOT touristy or very commercialized, which we do like.  We have the basics that we need here, and we prefer that it stay that way and not get too big.  Regarding special food, the only thing I can think of is there is a large Blueberrry Farm here where people can come and pick their own blueberries, blackberries and strawberries in season.

Our town does have a great 4th of July celebration every year, and this year looks extra special:

HERE is a LINK to a previous post I wrote about our town in 2023. I am trying to update everything in that post, but it has become too time consuming because there have been a lot of changes recently, so it may be confusing to read!!  However, there are a lot of pictures of our community in that post that you may find interesting if you haven't been a blogging friend for that long.

All in all, we do like our little community. There is still a lot of room for improvement, but we really don't want to see the kind of growth here that they are experiencing a little further south of us.  We'd prefer to keep this one of Florida's "best kept secrets".  

And besides all this, I would never have had the opportunity to have our sweet friend "Blackie" come and sit beside me while I write if we'd never moved here!

He's got his paw on my journal that says "With God all things are possible" , Matthew 19:26! 

Yes, that's so very true, Blackie...so very true!

Good night friends. I hope you enjoyed hearing about our town.  Now let's go check out where everyone else is living over at https://tuesdaysplace.blogspot.com/2026/06/our-town.html

Monday Monday~"This Is My Father's World"

Happy Monday!  After a busy and somewhat difficult week/weekend, I am happy to be starting a new week. Our calendar looks relatively free (so far), and it looks like a good week to try to let my mind and body relax and recapture the joy and beauty of the world around us.  We started out the morning by taking a little ride down to the Kenwood Boat Ramp, because there's a good place to walk around for my hubby, and a good place for me to get close to nature and just enjoy what the Lord has provided. And He didn't disappoint this morning. (He never does!).  

This very familiar old hymn, "This Is My Father's World", came to my mind as I was writing this and looking at the pictures that I took this morning at the boat ramp, and also some taken in our own yard this morning and yesterday afternoon.  Maybe you can listen to the music while you look at the pictures.

This is my Father's world

(Little Blue Heron)

And to my listening ears

All nature sings, and roundly rings

The music of the spheres

This is my Father's world

The birds their carols raise

The morning light, the lily-white

Declare their maker's praise

This is my Father's world

I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees,

 

of skies and seas

His hand the wonders wrought

This is my Father's world

Oh, let me ne'er forget

Vulture

That though the wrong seems oft so strong

God is the ruler yet

This is my Father's world

Why should my heart be sad?

The Lord is King, let the heavens ring

God reigns, let the earth be glad

This is my Father's world

He shines in all that's fair

In the rustling grass I hear Him pass

He speaks to me everywhere

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the music.  Especially these last pictures of our Blackie...the giant flower in the zinnia garden...I was mildly scolding him for laying on my flowers, but he was so cute, I couldn't be very mad at him...He just wanted to enjoy smelling the flowers along the way. 

The blueberries are on my own bush.

I picked this many ripe ones this morning...

And there are still many more ripening for the future!

I enjoyed them on some yogurt and granola...

The pictures of the Baby Bluebird in the birdhouse shared above and then the empty nest is actually a sad story. I hesitate to even share it, but it's all apart of the cycle of nature. Sadly, I witnessed a very large crow come and snatch that precious little bluebird right out of that window not too long after I had taken that picture. The parent bluebirds rapidly zoomed into action and chased the crow, who was still holding the baby in his beak, out across the pond, where they had quite a battle, but I am sorry to say that the poor baby bird did not survive the fight, and the parents flew back home to the nest bereft of their child. As far as I know that was the only baby they had from that clutch of eggs.  However, I have noticed that they have been coming back and checking out the birdhouse again, and perhaps they will start another nest.  I removed the old nest from the house, because they won't build on top of it.

I am sad about the bluebird, but I love the way the parents have come right back to start again. I don't know whether they will be successful this time or not, but they are not easily discouraged. They have a 'calling' to "multiply" and "replenish" the Bluebird kingdom.   So they get back to work, building their nest.  They did grieve...I saw how they chased that bad crow and tried their best to rescue their baby, but when they knew they couldn't win that fight, they came back home and said we'll try again.  

Sometimes in life that's what we have to do as well.  We can't rescue every child, we can't keep bad things from happening in this world. We can't stop the process of aging, no matter how hard we try. But we can keep trusting God for every new day. We can count the blessings we do have, and rejoice in the Lord for each new day.  Because when we take the time to count our blessings, we realize that we often have more reasons to Praise God than we do to feel sorry for ourselves. 

Psalm 103 KJV

103 Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

I bet if we tried hard enough, we could find 10,000 reasons to praise Him!  

Okay, on that note I will close this for today. I am trusting God for a good good week...one day at a time! How about you?  

 

Happy Sunday~Flag Day and Beyond~On Eagle's Wings

Happy Flag Day!  I proudly display our American Flag on our front porch every day, but today was extra special...

Just as I put the flag out, I noticed these clouds "flying" in towards the flag...and the one looked just like a giant American Bald Eagle soaring in the sky...what a perfect symbol of our very wonderful, strong, and powerful nation and American Flag.  But it's even much more than that...

God speaks to us about the Eagle's wings throughout Scripture, with messages of comfort and strength and protection for us as well as His chosen people Israel...

Isaiah 40:28-31

28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Exodus 19:3-6

3 Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

This made me think of the song "On Eagle's Wings"... 

The song is based on Psalm 91:

Psalm 91 NKJV

91 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence.

4 He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

And ten thousand at your right hand;

But it shall not come near you.

8 Only with your eyes shall you look,

And see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

10 No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

12 In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,

The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him,

And show him My salvation.”

I don't know if you noticed it, but there is also "The Sign of the Fish" in a cloud just above the Eagle's Wings.   

I don't know about you, but I found these clouds to be quite a powerful display of God's love and power and strength today...for myself personally, and also for our nation as we celebrate "Flag Day" and all that our flag represents: 

Just prior to signing the Declaration of Independence, this was the final statement contained at the very end of the document:

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

As long as our nation remembers that we are "One Nation, UNDER GOD, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all", "with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence," we will continue to be a powerful nation who represents trust in the One True God before the world.  But when we lose sight of that truth, we will fall captive to other world ideologies and failed systems of government, and our great nation will be doomed to destruction.

But God gives us (and Israel, as this verse was written for them, but we who are believers in Almighty God through His Son Jesus Christ are also called by His name), this promise...that if we will humble ourselves and pray and seek HIS face, and TURN from our wicked ways (REPENT), then He will hear from heaven and will forgive our sins and restore our land.

I am very thankful for our country and our flag and all that it stands for.  May God continue to bless America.

Now, onto another note, thank you all who had such kind things to say the other day regarding the loss of my friend Maura (and her husband Woody). I did indeed go to their Celebration of Life service yesterday, and it was very moving and special in every way.  I felt like God was bearing me up on eagles' wings to help me get through the service. I sat with our mutual friend, Marian, and together we cherished the sweet and special memories that we have of our dear friends.  Maura, in particular, was such a powerful witness for Christ wherever she went. She loved the Lord so much and was never afraid to share her faith with others. She was such a positive and loving person...and there is such a huge void now that will be difficult to fill.  My prayers are with her granddaughter in particular, as she now must take care of all the details of their estate, etc. by herself. May God give her the strength she will need.

I also want to thank the Lord for the good rains we've been getting the past few days.  I said I wished that I could just sleep through the storm like my kitty...right there on the porch while the rain was pouring (it's hard to see it, but it was definitely raining).  Blackie seems to be in perfect peace...not even afraid when there is thunder.  He is definitely a sweetheart.  BTW: Hubby didn't feel up to going to the funeral with me yesterday, but I noticed when I got home that Blackie had been inside the house keeping him company while I was gone...Who was it that said he didn't want a cat in the house????? LOL.

And just to close out with some extra pictures of that old house in our historical section of town that I showed you before...word has it that it has been sold. 

 We had taken a little ride past there again a couple of weeks ago, and I got out of the car to get a closer look...

I was surprised that the old porch swing was still hanging there! I didn't try to sit on it just because I wasn't sure how secure it was, but I thought this made a wonderful picture...

And since there weren't any pictures of the kitchen on the Zillow ad for this house, I wanted to look in the "open" window to see what I could see...

But there really wasn't much to see, so that's probably why they never showed it in the listing. Whoever bought this house will have their work cut out for them to put in a working kitchen...but I just saw on the listing that they closed on the house with a sales price of $125,000., so they got a good deal and hopefully they will have plenty of money to do all the restoration that needs to be done to make it a beautiful restored home.  I may have to stop by sometime and get acquainted with the new owners!

But for now it remains a "Closed Door"....

And so I will close this post on that note.

I wonder how many of you put out your flags today? How many of you put a flag out every day?  Especially as we approach our 250th celebration of our freedom as a nation, I hope everyone will find ways to show our patriotism and pride in our amazing nation!  "One nation, UNDER GOD, with liberty and justice for ALL!"  Amen.

My door is always open to you!