Pictures of the Last Few Days: Jacksonville, Fort Clinch SP, Gainesville

I've not been in the mood to write anything these last few days - or week or two now, I suppose.   I've been turned inward, seeking to put myself in better order, lately.    There's work to do inside, is what I'm saying. Still, I did see a few things, and I did remember to use my camera on a few of them....

Like this, Fort Clinch State Park, a Civil War era park just north of Jacksonville that was begun just before beginning of the war, then taken and then abandoned by the Confederacy, and then taken and held by the Union after Florida was evacuated by Confederate forces in the middle of the war.  I have always loved old forts like this,  they move me somehow.   Here are a few images I seized of the place:

Then I saw this later that same day along the side of the road.  It's web was huge, probably a square meter in total span, and the little fellow was himself not all that little (in that if he were to grow any larger he would be a great nightmare, and not just a vividly colored little spook like he is now..)  being about two inches long or so with the extent of his legs..  He was very beautiful, but I was a a little too wary and respectful to get any closer than I did, which means the images I took are not as impressive as they should be:

I just looked him up online.  He's a yellow silk spider, also known as a banana spider, a calico spider, a writing spider, a giant wood spider or a golden orb spider.

He's not at all dangerous, and can even be touched or picked up if you have the guts to do it.   I like spiders, but prefer not to touch or get too close to them.  They're awesome to me, and that means I give them due respect.  I look, but will not touch.  

Some people are brasher in this than I.  Here's the proof of that:

That guy's a little bigger than the one I ran into, but not much.   Pretty amazing, eh?


I'm beginning to really like Florida.  It's really only a matter of paying attention to what is good and ignoring all the idiots.  That's just a matter of acting with grace and acquired wisdom, and then paying attention, really..



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