A Visit to Jax. Beaches… Echoes of My Neighborhood #photos

This morning I enjoyed a beach walk with my son. It is much too crowded on the weekends, so now is the time! The dunes are beautiful at our beach. There are signs telling people to ” stay off.” For good reason, I am sure.

Walking the beach is something we both like to do. He is quiet comp, but as we walk, I feel any stress melting away. I imagine that’s why he likes it so much. We broke my heat survival rule: must hit the beach before 9 a.m., but optimise of iced coffee got me through!

After walking, we stopped by Breezy Coffee Shop Cafe on 8th St. so I could get my iced coffee.  It is a small, cozy cafe in a quaint two story house, located next to a surf/ clothing shop with this beautiful mural on one side. I love the Arts in Jacksonville!

Speaking of the Arts in Jacksonville, I got my copy of Folio Weekly at the coffee shop which features an article on a woman who has opened several businesses that support the Arts in Jacksonville. I included this photo because it says a lot about my town. The Folio reflects our town quite well every week, in fact!

I apologize for not taking a photo of my coffee. My phone was acting up in the coffee shop. The iced coffee was great, though, and an excellent reward after the walk. At least there is a breeze on the beach when you walk! It was nice to get out and away from the computer. I’ll have to do this next week, as well.

*Echoes of My Neighborhood is a weekly blog theme established by fellow blogger Jackie at acookingpotandtwistedtales.com.  She has been somewhat of a blogging guru to me since I started on WordPress a little over a year ago. I recommend you visit her blog and her Echoes of My Neighborhood at https://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/2017/07/20/hibernating-in-the-malls-echoes-of-my-neighbourhood/ !

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Out and About, “Echoes of My Neighborhood,” Almost-November entry!

10-29-16 Bixby’s tail is down; he doesn’t like all the remaining debris from Hurricane Matthew either.  It’s eerie walking by and hearing something rustle inside the stack of branches, and the debris has been all over the place for three weeks.  It seems they are slowly getting it cleared away. Our walk was otherwise very pleasant, though. He even met a dachsund mix that was very friendly!

Since I missed pilates, I took to foot with Bixby for the 2 mile round trip to the post office.  I am determined to stay resilient and healthy, so I had to do something.  What happens right away? Bixby makes a mess on a neighbor’s lawn. Luckily I had a “poop bag,” since rules say I must use one. However, I won’t carry that thing all the way to the post office! A return home to dispose of it and wash my hands puts me off time, so I instead go the other way for a shorter walk, and now I must drive to the post office later. I could’ve just left it, but would I be fined? What are the consequences? I hate that rule. However, if I was the neighbor, I’d likely be unhappy with someone leaving their dogs mess on my lawn too.  At any rate, walking the other way provides some interesting sight-seeing and is a far different view from the walk to the post office.  I’ll share that one at a later date!

Walking gets my brain going.  I’ll start thinking,   This is what it would be like if we run out of fuel and no longer have the use of cars.  Could I handle it?  I’d like to think so.   The geography of “my side of town” would change drastically, though.  It would certainly decrease.  It’s neat though, as you walk along, you notice things you normally just breeze by when traveling by car.  I can walk fast, but not so fast I can’t notice my surroundings!

Above is a family-owned meat shop that has been a mainstay in my side of town for years.  It’s really neat to go inside; there is a small country store feel to it!

The view on this route is lovely, although nature is fenced in.  It is well-manicured and evidently belongs to the owners of this particular neighborhood.  A fenced in forest, quite interesting.

This is one of the retirement communities in our area.  There are probably three on this road.  Bixby stopped to sniff this lovely foliage, but would not pose once I got the camera out.  I won’t complain since he is usually quite cooperative!

I only took a few pictures, since my main objective was to get a good, brisk walk. Much as a girl can do that while stopping every few minutes when her canine companion needs to sniff something or mark his spot.  He is a wonderful companion, though, and he gets me outdoors a lot.  These longer treks get boring with no one to talk to, so Bixby solves that dilemma.  Well, he doesn’t talk, but he does communicate.  He gives me those looks, he stops, he notices things that I don’t and takes me to another level of living.  God bless him.

“Echoes of My Neighborhood” is a weekly blog topic started by Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha at http://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com.  You can find some of her “Echoes of My Neighborhood” posts at http://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/category/travel-2/dubai/echos-of-my-neighbourhood/  Jacqueline lives in Dubai and has quite an interesting neighborhood!  You should go and check out her blog.

 

 

Echoes of My Neighborhood, October Entry. Widening the Radius

A neighborhood with trees such as these, is a beautiful one indeed….

How far does your neighborhood reach?  On this beautiful October day, October 2nd, I got to experience a larger neighborhood reach.  Today I walked with some members of my church in the Cropwalk, a yearly event that raises funds and spreads awareness to stop hunger in other countries and in our local neighborhoods through an organization called Church World Service.

I live in a side of my town called Mandarin.  My church is located in Lakewood and is called Lakewood Presbyterian.*  (It is only a ten-minute drive for me when there is no traffic).  There’s a small area beyond that called Miramar, and then there’s San Marco, a beautiful historic area.  Our walk began in a church in San Marco, still, probably just a ten-minute drive from my church on a pleasant Sunday.  Simply an extension of my own neighborhood!  Never mind that the homes are a bit more expensive.  The land is a little more valuable, considering many of them have riverfront property and easy access for a boat entrance.  I just love our river.  Maybe you can tell, I also love these old, moss-filled trees.

The weather has been a lot less humid lately, but the temperatures seemed to be pretty high anyway.  Another reason one would enjoy such lovely trees along the roadway!  I was so thankful for their coverage as we continued our walk.

As we headed back to our starting point at South Jacksonville Presbyterian, I was amazed at what a perfect backdrop the clouds made.

Later, when I’d been back at home in my little neighborhood again, they peaked at me during sunset while I took the dog on his walk. I caught just the last glimmer of pink.

So, I suppose I widened the radius of my neighborhood quite a bit in this entry.  I’ve done that before, have you noticed?  It’s all part of my neighborhood, my world, my home.  Our church service today reflected on World Communion Sunday and the fact that we are all neighbors.  Perhaps these same clouds drifted past you in your neck of the woods.  I hope so; they were perfect.

It was such a lovely day, and I look back on it peacefully now, as my city is in the wake of Hurricane Matthew.  I truly hope I won’t have any outlandish stories to tell about it.  I prefer to be the author of outlandish fiction, thank you very much.  Please pray for us!

“Echoes of My Neighborhood” is a weekly blog challenge started by Jacqueline Obyikocha at her blog, A Cooking Pot and Twisted Tales.  One of her recent entries can be found at http://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/2016/10/06/random-snaps-of-my-neighbourhood/ and illustrates her life in Dubai quite well!  Go and give it a look!

Having participated regularly over the summer in this blog challenge, I will try to join in every few weeks, or monthly, now that I’m back at work.  I am hoping my brief entry here has shown a little of what life is like in Northern Florida with the river, the sunshine, the Spanish Moss.  It all comes together to paint a lovely picture.

*Lakewood Presbyterian in Jacksonville’s website is lpcjax.org. If you are in the area, please give it a look!

 

Echoes of My Neighborhood, Sept. Entry

Sept. 9th in Jacksonville, Fl, at a lovely 91 degrees!  It was a lovely day to be outdoors in my simple, yet beautiful neighborhood.

Maybe the only thing that tells me Fall is coming is the drop in humidity lately.  For sure, the sun was still quite hot on this September day.  Yet I found the drier air to be a relief.  It seems a little more bearable, now that the storms and rainy aftermath of Hermine have left us.  It felt quite comfortable sitting outside today, for about 15 minutes, anyway!  This picture shows off some of our lovely flora and fauna in my neighborhood, as well as my neighbor’s lovely, lush green grass.  Looks just like summer, but the air is much lighter today!

Even Bixby enjoyed sitting out in the lovely air!  This photo showcases our crepe myrtle tree, still in bloom!  The grass was freshly mowed, hence the grass cuttings still sitting on top of our lawn.  It accentuates the contrast with our neighbor’s yard.  They have the best on the street!  By the way, our lawn hasn’t won any awards yet.  🙂  Now, if only this picture could fully illustrate Bixby’s sniffer going wild, as it does every time we are sitting outside….

Not a very good representation of my neighborhood, but here is where I’ll end my photo illustration of this day in my neighborhood.  My dog, Bixby, ended up on alert after seeing some neighbors walk by with their dogs.  You can see his ears perked up, as he sits on edge ready to strike in the spirit of protecting me from these wild dogs and their unknown owners.  (That’s in his point of view).  You’ve got to love their protective instincts!  At any rate, it grew pretty warm and I sat in the shade for the last few minutes, then decided we should go inside since my dog simply would not come next to me to relax in the shade.  Always on guard!

“Echoes of My Neighborhood” is a weekly blog challenge started by Jacqueline Obyikocha at her blog, A Cooking Pot and Twisted Tales.  Her most recent entry can be found at http://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/category/travel-2/dubai/echos-of-my-neighbourhood/ and illustrates her life in Dubai quite well!  Go and give it a look!

Having participated regularly over the summer in this blog challenge, I may perhaps join in every few weeks or monthly now that I’m back at work.  I am hoping my brief entry here showcases what life is like here in Florida!  That, and there’s the lovely profile of my favorite dog. 🙂

-Pamela

The River. #echoesofmyneighborhood, #5

Is there anything as beautiful as a sunset on the water?  Well, maybe sunrise on the water.  I’d have to say they are equally beautiful.  Living in Jacksonville, Fl, I am able to enjoy both.  Above is a photo of a sunset on the St. Johns River at a county dock.  This is just a little ways down the road from me, heading out of my neighborhood, down a main street, and turning into another residential area.  However, our huge river winds all around town.  This county dock, on my side of town,  has a park and historical site.  It’s a great place to go and relax, take a short walk, and stop and gaze.  Many people also go to fish off of that dock.  It’s a beautiful location.

Walking back through the trails into the park, you still get a little glimpse of the river through the trees.  This photograph was taken on a day that had been rainy and stormy, and it was just winding down. There would have been a sunset, except for the clouds. You can almost see the breeze stirring through the Spanish moss.  The dark and light images made a wonderful contrast.

Here is the county dock again, pictured on a sweltering hot summer day, mid-day to be exact, from another angle.  I mean, it’s one of those days the heat seems to be cooking the wood, and some of the wood was new at that point, which may have accounted for the smell, but in my mind’s eye, it was the sun baking the wood.  I was also dripping with sweat.  No one goes out there too often on hot summer days. 🙂 Those from out of town don’t either.  You can sort of tell how bright and intense the sun is on this day, because a lot of the colors look faded, as if every color is reflecting so much light.

Such is the mixture of bright, sunny, cloudy, dark, and rainy that we get around here, in this place I call home.  You can get beautiful views on any sort of day.  Just keep your eyes wide open, and especially head for the water.

Echoes of My Neighborhood is a Thursday blog challenge, initiated by fellow blogger Jacqueline Obyikocha, who blogs at http://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com .  Jacqueline is very supportive of other bloggers and always inspires me with her poetry and photography.  Please stop by and peruse her blog.  While there, you should also visit her Echoes of My Neighborhood posts, or you can get to them directly at http://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/category/travel-2/dubai/echos-of-my-neighbourhood/   You won’t be disappointed!