Golf Cart Crossing

The Spanish Springs section of The Villages is divided by a large, 2-lane highway, known as Highway 441. It is an extremely busy road and would be impossible to cross without stop lights or similar devices.  Thus, the planners constructed a large bridge to allow golf carts (the main mode of transportation in The Villages) to cross Highway 441 in relatively safety.

You would not, however, want to have had "one too many" drinks and then try to guide your golf cart up and over this bridge.  Notice the tire marks?  Evidently, there were a number accidents that "almost" happened, as is also suggested by the lean of the red cart in this picture.

One thing I've observed in my trips to The Villages is that the old folks living there drive golf carts at top speed.  The streets compare to the Daytona 500.  I've watched them come screaming down this bridge, hanging on with both hands, hair blowing, all caution thrown to the wind.

It's scary!

Water Tank - Downtown Ocala

Father & Son

Community Center, Spanish Springs, The Villages

Spanish Springs Lake - The Villages, Florida

The Forest Green in Infrared

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays

This is one of the Christmas trees adorning the Oak House at the Trilogy Resort.

All I Want For Xmas is this Xmas car(d) ...

Christmas in Spanish Springs, The Villages

Wells Fargo Bank

Wells Fargo, one of our country's more disreputable banking institutions, has a large presence in Ocala. This photo pictures one of the the Wells Fargo branches on Ocala's east side.

Initially, I took the photo because of the colors and the contrast between the commercial (bank) and Mother Nature (trees).  But then I realized this is a rather poignant symbol of the Christmas season.  The banks at this time of year are packed with holiday shoppers pulling money out of their accounts or applying for loans to obtain additional money with which to buy Christmas gifts with which to litter their living rooms on Christmas morning.

Scrooge, the bad guy of Christmas, has a point, I think.

Gone but not golfing

I'm going to take a couple of weeks off ... but will be back.  Best to all of you.  If you live in the US, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving.  Christmas and Hanukkah will be here soon.  In Florida, this is the perfect time for golf and a lot of my friends will be out on the local courses.  I won't be golfing, however, for several more weeks.

Golfers Only

This is the "start" area for Trilogy's golfers. It's located just off the first tee box and offers a place to rest and relax. Ice cold water is free. Golfer may also help themselves to score cards, golf tees, golf repair tools, pencils, etc.

Freight Train

For many of my readers, especially those who live in countries other than the US, freight trains are no big deal. But we don't see many of them in the U.S. these days because President Dwight D. Eisenhower, under pressure from the formidable auto industry and its supporters in Congress, determined that the U.S. should put its money into interstate highways rather that train tracks.  Thus we chose to do down that road (a terrible mistake, in my opinion, because the U.S., through this decision, became a supporter of toxic global warming.

This train is rumbling through the small town of Wildwood about 60 miles northwest of Orlando. Notice how little graffiti there is.

A Dumper

There are multiple ways to get rid of trash or pouring concrete. This seems to be one of the easiest methods around. It gets my vote.

Barx and Bubbles

If your dog is smelling rather rank these days, just give Barx and Bubbles a call.  They will show up at your door with their mobile grooming truck and within an hour or so your dog will smell like new!

We used a similar service occasionally when our Golden Retriever, Haley, was still with us.

There are at least two of these mobile groomers in the Ocala area that I know of, and probably others of which I am unaware.  I think it's a fine service but it is water intensive.  Plus they use a generator so it's noisy as hell!

Oak House Great Room - Trilogy Resort

The Oak House (see the header photo above) at the Trilogy Resort provides room for a number of activities.  We'll be posting photos of the various spaces occasionally in the future.

The Great Room or Living Room is the focal point of the building.  People gather here for games, learning activities, meeting other residents, craft shows, etc.

The bar (pictured above) is actually not in the Great Room but adjacent to it in the restaurant.

Pool Poop

This is a huge pool float. You might want to consider it if you have a swimming pool.

Nah. It's really crappy any way you look at it!

Coke by any other name...

This is a true story. I was shopping in one of our local stores when I realized I was thirsty. So, before checking out, I located one of those small "refrigerators" used to keep soda pop cold. I reached in, pulled out a bottle of Diet Coke.

To my astonishment, I saw it featured my last name. No, I don't think there was anything sinister or other worldly about this.  It's probably a marketing gimmick. But, strangely, I've not seen any other Coke bottles with personal names on them.

Whatever, the bottle occupies a place of honor on my workbench in the garage.

Gator Mania

The University of Florida is located in Gainesville. Gainesville is a good-sized city about 35 miles north of Ocala.  The Oaks Mall is located in Gainesville.

The alligator is the University of Florida mascot. Gator Mania, in the Oaks Mall,  sells all kinds of items related to the University of Florida's sports teams and all this stuff features alligators.  As I recall, there are two or three Gator Mania stores in the Oaks Mall and UF gator memorabilia is also sold in a large open area of the mall.  You can buy a ton of "Gator" tee shirts featuring a gator engaging in a variety of activities.

It's one heck of a money-making operation which I don't understand at all. A number of years ago, T-shirts were plain, without lettering or advertising.  They were worn primarily as undershirts.  Then some marketing execs got a bright idea.  Let's sell T-shirts that advertise our junk and tell people they don't need any other kind of shirt.

I remember clearly the first T-shirts I saw with advertising on it; Coca-Cola I believe. And I was insulted. Coca-Cola wanted me to buy a T-shirt and advertise their product! How stupid is that? Now, if they want to pay me to wear one of their T-shirts, I'd take that under consideration but I'll be darned if I'm going to wear their T-shirt for nothing.

You can see how well that turned out. Common sense got flipped on its head and people ran out to buy shirts advertising somebody else's product.

Nobody knew it at the time, but that's probably when Gator Mania was born.

Broken Wing - A Bird House Community

This is a relatively new development in the Ocala area. It's known as "Broken Wing" and is for older birds of a certain age who can no longer fly high. Notice the houses are low to the ground.

8th Street Elementary School

8th Street Elementary School is located in Ocala's historic district. It is a high-achieving school, with a diverse mix of students, operating from a beautiful and historic 3-story structure. The original school was built in 1914 but underwent a substantial renovation during the 2000-2001 school year and continues to offer children a wonderful place to grow and learn.

I miss Ike...

I'm old enough to remember President Eisenhower and know that today's Republicans wouldn't give him the time of day. His biggest mistake was to opt for interstate highways instead of rail transportation. But he was basically a good person which we cannot say about the current occupant of the White House.

And hell yes, although quite young, I remember Harry Truman. He was feisty and yet did not beat up on people who were poor or different than he was. He didn't take any guff and when a certain general gave him a problem, like wanting to take the Korean War into China, ol' Harry relieved him of his position. Harry knew that to fight a land war against the Chinese was irredeemably stupid!

I would take either of these two over the orange-headed monster in Washington who oozes evil and terrorizes the world with his crackpot ideas and monumental lies.

Golf Course View

This nice new home backs up to a golf course.  The residents can sit in those comfy red chairs on their patio and watch the golfers as they pass by.  Such a venue is guaranteed to provide lots of laughs.

How much is that kitty in the window?

New Homes in Infrared

Ocala Farm

Cleo - wrapped and ready to go

Cleopatra is my cat.  She has adopted me.  She's very opinionated and very bossy.  She makes her likes and dislikes known.  One of the things she likes to do is play in plastic bags we bring home from the store.

In this case, she's telling me to leave her alone.  I can have the bag back when she's done with it.  I said OK, then went and got my camera.  One of my likes is to take photos of her.

 

Mourning Dove

This morning dove was traveling through Ocala and decided to visit the Trilogy Resort.  It was a beautiful, warm morning; the various exercise groups had not yet arrived to work out in the swimming pool and thus it was the perfect time for a morning dove to contemplate a quick bath before resuming her journey.

Entrance to Oak House (Trilogy Resort)

Two of Ocala's Historic Houses in Infrared

The Jogger

Cattle Egrets on the fence

In my original post here I called these birds, "cowbirds."  I've heard that for years and assumed it was because they hung around cattle.  I was wrong.  These are cattle egrets, a species of heron.  They came to Florida from Canada some years back.

Every house needs a roof

Waiting for the rest of the roof...

...and here it comes.  As my dog would say, "Woof!  Woof!"

Our Lady and the Lizard

Needles at Heathbrook

Heathbrook is a large outdoor mall in Ocala. Although built several years ago, it is just now beginning to take off and I think it will eventually be quite successful.

There is a small green area in the middle of the mall, which contains several beautiful oak trees and a statue of a horse. Some years back, I did a post on this statue. It celebrates the importance of the thoroughbred industry in the Ocala area.

The first thoroughbred farm in the Ocala area was Rosemere, which started up in 1936. But it wasn't until 20 years later when an Ocala thoroughbred by name of "Needles" won the Kentucky Derby that the thoroughbred industry came into its own. Within 10 years, the number of horse farms went from a handful to many hundreds. Today Ocala is known as the "Horse Capital of the World."

This is a statue of Needles, 1956 Kentucky Derby Champion.

Pilgrim Friends

These two Pilgrim friends are waiting patiently for the arrival of Thanksgiving Day when their attire won't be so out-of-place.

The powers-that-be at City Daily Photo have designated the theme for November 1 to be "Friendship."  You can check all the various takes on the theme HERE.

A Slithery Visitor

A slithery visitor arrived on Sunday

 He asked our cats to come out and play 

The kitties, fearful, fled in dismay 

And were not seen 'til Saturday!

Florida & Texas Longhorns

On a hot afternoon, the Florida Longhorns knew enough to find some shade under the old oak tree. The Texas Longhorns, though, being dumb as door knobs, remained in the open, chewing grass, allowing the heat to sap them of whatever energy they might have had when they lived on a ranch west of Houston. Turns out they belong to the Conservative Cow Patty Party.

Ye Olde Witch

This is Ye Olde Witch here at the Trilogy Resort.  She resides on the main road so gets a lot of attention which witches like on Halloween and even the days before Halloween.

Ye Olde Witch is supposed to be scary but she looks a lot like my olde aunt Gwendolyn who wasn't scary at all.  I didn't even tremble when I took her picture.

I thought it strange, though, that my bike burst into flames when I arrived home!  

French Bicycle

This is a beautiful road bike, made in France.  Everything fits perfectly and that's probably why it exudes quality and elegance.  The owner is seen most days riding the trails here at the Trilogy Resort.  Sometimes he parks the bike here to take a dip in the swimming pool.

Jody and the Flint Creek Outfitters

I am back, at least temporarily.  A variety of health issues have made blogging impossible for the past few months, but things are looking up now.  I just don't know how long the present situation will last.  It is good to be back and to see so many familiar blogs and friends still blogging away.

The gentleman in the first photo above is Jody.  He's an employee of Flint Creek Outfitters in the Heathbrook Outdoor Mall.  Flint Creek sells most everything one would need to spend time outside in the woods or the mountains or on a trail.  Their goods are not inexpensive but are of high quality.

Jody works in the Flint Creek bicycle shop.  He is a fascinating young man and is what's considered a long-haul bicyclist.  His bike, pictured here, is just about ready for a long ride; it is loaded with water, food, a tent, all the utensils one would need, medical supplies, etc.  When we met him, Jody was planning a 200-300 mile ride across Georgia and Florida.  

Jody is also active in a religious group known as Church in the Garden which is for the "housed" and the "unhoused".  They take their religion out of the building and put it into practice by providing food and clothing and haircuts and all kinds of other assistance for people in need, many of which are living on the street.

You can learn more about all of this here:  www.weargloves.org, and www.dignityroasters.com.

Please Google Flint Creek Outfitters for more info on that operation.  

The bikes you see in the last photo were, as I recall, made in Spain.  They are quite expensive but exquisitely created.