Took advantage of the relative calm before the storm this past Saturday and wandered out to the Treasure Island Kite Festival. When my friend Katie and I arrived at noon the wind was fickle at best, not ideal conditions for flying.

Thankfully, the wind picked up as the afternoon wore on. The bright sunshine highlighted the colorful banners and kites in the sky. While there were hundreds of kites aloft, hands down my favorite was the massive blue whale.

A fun way to spend a winter’s afternoon, especially since a cold storm blew in that night and dropped our temperatures about twenty degrees!

Over the holidays, a dear friend gifted me a set of handsome Frank Lloyd Wright Waterlilies tumblers. Not only do they class up the joint but they reminded me to visit the campus of Florida Southern College which houses “the largest and most fully articulated collection of Wright’s work in the world”.

The college sits atop the rolling hills along Lake Hollingsworth in Lakeland, about an hour drive east of me. I had two other reasons to travel to the aptly named city this past week since that is the location of the nearest Discount Tire (to resolve a warranty issue) and a good friend lives near there.

I distantly remembered my aunt taking my cousins and I to visit Fallingwater in Pennsylvania when I was a young teenager (though I recall little of the visit). So I was looking forward to learning more about one of America’s most influential architects.

I couldn’t have picked a more beautiful winter day for my visit, especially since the famed architect’s buildings are strewn throughout the sprawling campus.

I was fascinated to learn how Wright’s involvement with the college evolved. Founded in 1885 the college finally set down roots when it moved to Lakeland in 1922. In 1938 the president of the young campus telegraphed the 70 year old Wright and requested his help planning an “education temple” in Florida.

Both men were eager to showcase an American aesthetic, incorporating the natural elements of the site with a modern yet organic design. Over the next twenty years, Wright refined his “Child of the Sun” master plan and supervised the construction of twelve of his eighteen proposed buildings.

In 2013, a thirteen Wright-designed building, The Usonian House (originally intended as a faculty residence) was built just off campus to serve as the Frank Lloyd Wright visitor center. A fitting tribute to the pioneer of “organic architecture”.

It was a bit of a feeding frenzy last night up at the John’s Pass jetty. There must have been a pretty large school of fish moving through the area because even the dolphins were in on the action (though sadly, not in this video). Note the opportunistic gulls, hoping for an easy tidbit.

I was participating in an online survey recently (I don’t remember why) and this question came up. Option six cracked me up, the creator obviously had a good time devising this one. Or am I the only one who hasn’t built a life-size replica of a spaceship?

While most of my house has the original terrazzo floor throughout, for some reason the laundry room had a bare concrete floor. I decided on vintage wood vinyl plank flooring awhile ago but never got around to purchasing it. My procrastination turned out to be a good thing.

I’m always on the lookout for items by the curb (people place stuff out that they no longer want and it either gets picked up by someone who does want it or by the garbage truck). So I was delighted to find a stack of planking curbside recently.

Yesterday I tackled the floor. As usual, it was not as simple and straightforward as I had hoped. Which reminded me of the t-shirt my friend Karen recently sent me:

My walls are uneven, the concrete wasn’t level, and I had to cut around the water heater (it’s too old to move). Regardless, I finished the floor today. I’m pleased with the outcome and I am relatively unscathed.

Here’s hoping the year ahead is full of good things for all of us!

Wishing you the best gifts of all: joy, peace, and love!

Found these Jingle Bell lyrics on Facebook recently. In my humble opinion, they are spot on (especially the part about tourists driving too slow). A tips of the hat to the creative person that wrote this!

This afternoon I finally took the opportunity to tour the 31 acre Largo Central Park Nature Preserve. And boy, am I glad I did as there was an impressive array of wildlife on display.

They were unusually tolerant of my presence, allowing me to capture some nice closeups. I presume they are used to people, not only those wandering the preserve but the golfers on the course adjacent.

I will certainly be back for another visit!

Top to bottom, left to right: Snowy Egret, Eastern Gray Squirrel, Reddish Egret, Tricolored Heron, American White Ibis, Limpkin, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, American Alligator, Green Heron.