My Sister decided to fly up to Michigan to visit my Mother. I was up there recently myself to do some work on Mom's house before the winter hits. I try to do that every year, whether I can afford to or not. Mom's spirits have been a bit low lately and she loves it when we visit and since this is the slowest time for work in Florida, Sis decided to make the trek.

Naturally the cheapest flight was out of Tampa (Grrr) and since I don't have a life, I agreed to drop her at the airport. I'm not that fond of driving in Tampa as the people drive as if their asses are on fire, but that's another story. The only thing I like about the drive is going over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge that spans Tampa Bay. A lot of people don't like bridges, but I dig 'em. Especially on a motorcycle, though I was riding shotgun in a Kia when I snapped this pic at about eighty miles per hour. (Sis was running late as usual)

Enough of that. Since I don't have a life, I was elected to dog sit for Sis's Basset Hound, Baxter. Baxter loves me and howls whenever I come around even if I haven't seen him for months. It's funny, but he doesn't do that for anyone else, so we have some sort of special bond. He's a really good dog even though he looks funny.

After sitting around the house for a few days (because I don't have a life) with Baxter, come Sunday morning, I felt a powerful need to get out of the house, so I thought I'd grab Baxter and a leash and take a little drive up the road to the dog park at Venice Beach. Yes! There is a Venice Beach in Florida, too! How 'bout that.

Now, I love taking photos and try to keep a camera with me at all times. You never know what you'll see around here, even in your own back yard. Well, after having coffee I spotted this lizard out the kitchen window. He looks like he's about two feet long and attacking my hummingbird feeder (that has never attracted a hummingbird, btw), but he's really just on the window and only about three inces long. It's one of those optional delusions. I didn't intentionally frame the photo that way, but I'm not going to tell anyone about that.

While others have posted that fall gets a bit depressing due to the approaching winter months, fall for me has the opposite effect. It invigorates me with the cooler, dryer climes and the thought of several months of beautiful weather.

There is always something blooming in Florida. It's like an allergy heaven. Some trees and plants bloom in the spring while others bloom in the fall. Some summer, others winter. You get the idea. Two of my trees are in full bloom right now with the tiniest little flowers. The whole tree turns yellow and it's a beautiful sight. I had some nice pics of the whole tree, but OS won't load anything over 2MB so you'll have to trust me.When they eventually shed, the lawn is covered in a yellow and green tint. 

 There are so many bees working these two trees that when you stand under either of them the whole tree hums and loudly, too!      

                             Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...............................

Venice is just south of Sarasota. For those who don't know,Venice used to be the winter home of the Ringling Brothers Circus. John and Mabel Ringling made their fortune with the circus and were instrumental in putting Sarasota on the map. Sarasota is rich with circus tradition and even has a clown college for those who want to learn the trade, though I don't know how many Republicans train there.

Below you can see the trapeze and nets and in the background is the Venice Arena that has fallen into disrepair. I could fix it, but nobody's asked me to, because, you see, I don't have a life. I took this picture out the window while driving. Shut up. I know it's dangerous, but at least I wasn't texting. They still use this facility to practice and you can see them sometimes swinging and trapezeeing (not likely a real word) in the winter months.

Me and Baxter finally made it to the poo park and this black carmorant was doing the Full Monte while drying his wings in the sun.For those land lubbers out there, carmorants swim underwater to catch fish to eat so their wings get waterlogged and they can't fly until they dry them out in the sun. That is your nature lesson for the day. There will be a quiz on Monday.

 If you look closely, you can see some yellow tape and stakes above the high water line. It is sea turtle nesting season and it's very important to protect the nests. Humans have been known to screw up the natural process. Adult sea turtles travel thousands of miles, yet return to the exact location of their birth to lay their eggs. That's some pretty good navigating considering they spend most of their lives underwater. Hint: (You may want to take note of that as it will be on the quiz.)

These aren't the first friends Baxter met. I have some really cool dog butt sniffing pics, but OS decided they were to large to upload. OS is ruining my post.

It was very cool to see so many people enjoying the beach with their pets. This half mile stretch of beach is the only place dogs are allowed for miles. I don't agree with the policy, but what can you do? Republicans know best, so they make the rules around these parts. I just thank God that we have Republicans around here so I don't have to think for myself.

Some come prepared to spend the day. Some don't. I'm one of the don'ts.

Naturally, there is always someone looking for buried treasure. I hope he doesn't step in any.

All in all, I would estimate there were 1.7 million people at the beach that day. What's that you say? This wasn't a tea party event? Okay. So maybe there were forty or fifty people enjoying this secluded section of the beach. I imagine many more show up during the tourist season.

Nice ass, Scotty!

Now, right here I wanted to insert the most adorable photo of Baxter you'd ever want to see. After 45 minutes of walking in the loose sand, with his short little legs, poor ol' Baxter was completely tuckered out and it was written all over his face. That was the cornerpost photo for the whole piece, but it wouldn't upload because of the size. Thanks for ruining my post, OS. There goes my EP.

When Baxter got home, he laid down for most of the afternoon. He wasn't feeling so fit after all.

Now, how can you not love a face like that? Thats my buddy, Baxter.