Showing posts with label roots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label roots. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

'Walking trees'

The more you observe and learn, the more you realize how little you know about this wonderful, complex Creation we've been commanded to be good stewards of.

An encounter with a fellow dog lover at the harbour near here (where I made my current header shot) provided us with the location of a doggy beach near appropriately-named Lover's Key state park. We spent several hours there yesterday, and although I limited the number of shots I made, I saw all sorts of interesting things, among them - mangroves.( I'll share some others at a later time).

Of course, there's a lot of interesting information to be learned about them, not the least of which is that they thrive in salt water and yet are uniquely created to filter salt out. They provide habitat for many species of fish, crabs, and birds. And they can be severely damaged by as little as a few hours of freezing temperatures (if you're interested in learning more, check this out). I learned that the ones we saw, and are pictured below, are known as red mangroves.


Tuesday, November 16, 2010

(Day 320) All other ground is sinking sand

Hurricane season is almost over. Unless you live in a hurricane-prone area that likely means little to you. I've never been in a hurricane, and I'm not sure I'd really want to. The highest winds I've ever experienced occurred in Calgary and they only blew at 100km/60mi per hour. The chairs on the deck blew up against the house and we even found one cedar chair about 30m/100ft away. People that have experienced a hurricane are likely thinking 'big deal'. I just can't imagine winds of 250km/150mi per hour !

I've noticed something about some of the trees here in Florida. You've all seen pictures of palms bending in hurricane force winds. But I've also noticed other, very large, trees that don't seem to be able to bend and that are too large to have grown since the last hurricanes swept through this area in 2004. They have endured the storms because of their strong foundation.

We all need a strong foundation when the inevitable storms of life come, or we'll be swept away.

(10-22mm  f7.1  1/2 sec  ISO200)

click to enlarge