Florida Interlude, South Lido Park
December 18, 2022
South Lido Park has changed since I started going there about 20 years ago. The name, for one, has changed from South Lido Park to South Lido Beach. But the terrain—on Lido Key, a barrier island in Sarasota—has changed, too. Over most of those 20 years, most of the changes were subtle, or came one at a time: a new bridge over a lagoon, removal of the invasive Australian pines, a temporary sand bar. Last month I flew down to Sarasota for a two-week stay. It was my first time there in three years. Some of what used to be water was land; some of what used to be land was water. They seemed like major changes, but maybe that’s because I missed three years of their coming and going. Still, enough was familiar for me to feel “back.” Here’s some of what I saw.
1 Usually I go out with the camera in the morning, but my friend Lynda and I wanted to be there when the tide was lowest, which that day was in late afternoon. I enjoyed the bluish shadows.
2 These funny little spits of sand made a nice addition to the tide lines. Lynda’s guess is that they were formed by a kind of worm.
3 Foliage overhanging the beach dripped water on the sand.
4 Embedded seagrass made calligraphic marks in the sand.
5 A dead Australian pine trunk was speckled. Are insects eating it?
6 This large tree and the much smaller plant are probably not mother and baby, but the cradling makes me think they are.
7 As the sun started to go down, the green leaves of this Virginia creeper shone against the darker surroundings.
8 I have taken photographs of a bazillion seagrape leaves but maybe none of the seagrape fruits—until last month.
9 Leaves of grass . . .
10 My trip to Florida would not have been complete without a photograph of the waters of the Gulf of Mexico at Sarasota Bay.
Romancing Reality 
In #3 I’d not have guessed that the little “craters” came from water dripping from trees. Might the dark little speckles in #5 be a fungus or lichen? The Virginia creeper in #7 is a species Florida shares with Texas; we even have a fair amount growing wild in our yard. What colorful fruits the seagrape produces.
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December 18, 2022 at 6:17 PM
Actually the leaves making craters in the sand were from plants much smaller than trees. Might have been a kind of grass; I was too engaged photographing the craters to pay enough attention. The speckles in #5 could have been fungus or lichen; I’ll probably never know. We have Virginia creeper in Ohio, too, but maybe a different species. Ours turns bright red in the fall; does yours?
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December 18, 2022 at 9:24 PM
It sure does, and I count on it for color toward the end of each year. Here’s an example:
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December 18, 2022 at 10:39 PM
I didn’t know that central Texas had little fall color. Good to know you have Virginia Creeper. Thanks for the alternate name, five-leaf creeper. That’s a handy appellation; it distinguishes this plant from that other one it can often be taken for: the fingers-three-let-them-be plant. You have this one, too?
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January 7, 2023 at 12:14 PM
Do we ever! It’s common at the edges of woods here, and it can get rank [https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2014/12/06/a-lush-and-colorful-revelation].
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January 7, 2023 at 3:07 PM
Another nice portfolio of images, Linda. I’m especially taken with #2, #3, and #4. The simplicity is just beautiful and somewhat mysterious. Well done.
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December 18, 2022 at 6:22 PM
Thank you, Ken. I do like simplicity. Glad you do, too. Maybe we’ll get enough snow again this year to make some minimalist snow photographs. So far we’ve only gotten dustings.
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December 18, 2022 at 9:27 PM
Fine set again, Linda! I love 2,3 and 4 because they start to feel like drawings. 🙂
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December 19, 2022 at 2:11 AM
Oooo, they would be lovely as pencil drawings. Thanks, Harrie.
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January 7, 2023 at 12:16 PM
You must have been a painter in your previous life. Your photos have everything that many a painting dreams of.
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December 19, 2022 at 3:12 AM
Wish I could say I’d been a painter, but the paintings I’ve done . . . well . . . maybe I can just say that they are not very interesting, though I could be a lot more harsh in my evaluation. I’ve noticed that some photographs would make better drawings than photographs, and that some paintings would make boring photographs. I’m not sure what accounts for this—maybe something about composition.
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January 7, 2023 at 12:21 PM
Of course we all have our perspectives and that’s a good thing. I have a particular preference for works – whether photos or art – that tell a story or that allow me to watch the artist “finding”. A lot of your work has that and that’s probably the main reason I like it so much.
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January 7, 2023 at 12:28 PM
Thank you, Friedrich. I’m often afraid that my photographs don’t convey anything besides an interest in composition. I’m really pleased that you see more.
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January 7, 2023 at 12:34 PM
Composition, exposure….. are techniques that can also be learned in a class. Observational skills, giving meaning to minimalism and the like are another matter.
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January 7, 2023 at 12:44 PM
Fine collection, Linda. I particularly like #4 with the seagrass looking so much like brush strokes. I’m happy for you that you got back to Florida this year. 🙂
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December 19, 2022 at 7:53 PM
Thank you, Mic. Going to the parks in Florida made the trip worthwhile; if all I had was the airport and airplane experience, it would be a different story. Ugh. Why can’t Scotty just beam me up. Happy you like the embedded seagrass.
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January 7, 2023 at 12:26 PM
Having grown up on the FL west coast, these bring back memories. Like most of your other commenters, I’m especially drawn to 2, 3 and 4
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December 23, 2022 at 8:04 AM
Thank you, John. I’m happy to bring back memories for you. I’m sort of looking forward to another snowfall here in Ohio. As long as it doesn’t get as cold as it was during our last snowfall, I want to get out there with the camera and capture some spare snow scenes. Snow and sand offer some of the same opportunities, as I think you’ve noticed, too.
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January 7, 2023 at 12:39 PM
This is such a pleasure to see, Linda. What could be better than a vicarious trip to Florida, through your eyes? (OK, actually being there would be better). I bet Lynda’s right about those little piles of sand. I love #3 for the variety of textures that fit together beautifully. The embedded seagrass (eelgrass maybe?) is something I haven’t seen – cool! I’m pretty sure the speckles on the tree trunk are lichens. My friend Richard would be there with his hand lens, getting up close and personal and spouting off the names in Latin. He’s opened up a window on a world that is still mostly unknown (to me). Love the Seagrape fruit colors, the various leaf shapes in #9, and the serenity of the final photo, which is perfect in its place.
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January 1, 2023 at 10:00 PM
I think the seagrass is probably not eelgrass after reading this: https://www.nps.gov/articles/eelgrass.htm. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s Turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum). See https://floridadep.gov/rcp/seagrass. I’m quite fond of lichens, so I hope you’re right about #5. Thanks as always, Lynn, for all your comments.
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January 7, 2023 at 9:37 PM