I’ve been in Lakeland for nearly a year now, and this place is unlike any other place I’ve lived. Right now, I’m renting a house that’s next door to a farm. On the other side of that farm is a six-lane highway. On a given morning, I can hear cows lowing, the hum of traffic and sirens and also find a snake in the lanai. Or as we did on Christmas, a bobcat strolling through our backyard. Anyway, it’s an interesting place is my point. I’ve been challenging myself to take more photos of the cool things I see, and I have taken a bunch. (No, sorry, no bobcats, though.) My photography skills aren’t great, and neither is the equipment (my non-iPhone camera), but I’ll occasionally share my photos because why take them if you don’t put them in an album? Right?
I took this a couple weeks ago as a storm was rolling in. I parked my car across from this spot on Lake Morton, hoping to catch an image of lightning that had been crackling overhead. This is not a good idea, for the record. Anyway, I tried for a while and then figured it’d be pretty sad to have to read in my obit that I was struck by lightning while trying to take a photo of said lightning.
This was cool. So I was driving to work last week and pulled up behind this horse trailer. I drove really slow to try to stay behind him so I could snap some photos at a stop light. Naturally, this was one morning where every light on U.S. 98 was green. Until this one. The horse was actually looking away when I started taking photos, and gradually turned his head until he made eye contact with me. I’m gonna say he was OK with me taking his photo.
The statue in the middle is … interesting. “Interesting” is often code for “ugly,” but I guess I would just settle on weird. Actually, shortly after I took this photo during my lunch break, our paper ran a story about this structure. It’s called “Tribute to the Volunteer Spirit” and it was made by this world-famous artist named Albert Paley. It was kind of a big deal that the city had commissioned this well-known guy to do this work, but not everyone is pleased with the way it turned out. Also, the paint is peeling pretty badly, so it needs repairs, as do the columns behind it.
That’s my daughter Jolie running down the aisle of Plaza Mexico, a Mexican supermarket we found on a rainy weekend. It’s in Winter Haven, the other big city in Polk County. Those colorful items overhead are pinatas. Yes, this place was awesome and smelled great and there is a chance I just talked my husband into going back today for dinner. #Yassssss
Last one. I love me some libraries. They don’t even have to try with me. They had me at ‘li.’ But the Lake Morton branch got creative because it’s National Poetry Month. Swoon.