Florida Time Forgot
DECEMBER 2011
 
Hola fellow nature lover!
 
Welcome to Florida Time Forgot, an an extension of Fossil Expeditions and an on-going collection of my photos and photo stories from the wilds of Florida.  In keeping with the spirit of the holiday season, I am not selling anything in this month's newsletter.  Instead, I hope you enjoy my gift of photography and stories. 

When I'm neck deep in a river and the fossils aren't biting, something else always is.  If it it swims, slithers, creeps or crawls, I'm likely to encounter it.  So for self-defense, I always carry a loaded camera.  The photo above was shot in Telegraph Swamp on the Babcock Ranch in the old days of film, while the ones below are captioned.

I am not always interested in capturing reality.  It's emotion I seek in the wild.  I'm looking for moods or events, which I may tweak later in PhotoShop Elements to add yet another layer or dimension. 

The last thing I want to do is bore you or give you one more unwanted piece of junk mail to sort through.  So please, if I somehow missed you when asking permission to send you my  occasional newsletters, click "Opt Out" and I will remove your name before the next mailing in January or February. 

Otherwise...onward!  -- I hope you enjoy the photos! -- Bestus holidays!

 Mark and Marisa Renz
 
 
 
1
Blow, Blow, Seminole Wind
Click image for story 
 
2
Tree Hugger
Click image for more hugs
 
Lost World
Is there order in chaos?
Click image for photo story
 
3
A conversation with Tom
Click image for photo story
 
5
Seven Dreamers
 
"I want to fly," said the cow to the cranes
"Then fly!" one of the cranes replied.
"But I have no feathers!" observed the cow.
"Flying is not about feathers," responded the crane.
"If you can dream, you can fly!" 
Now there are seven dreamers in a family of cranes.

Mark Renz image and words
 
6
Persistence Prevails
Click image for photo story that's hard to swallow
 
7
House on Sycamore Street
(A song and video that found its way into my head)

How often do we miss opportunities to be a good neighbor?

I wrote the lyrics and melody for this song to remind me to think of needs beyond my own.  While helping a friend paint an abandoned house in the 1980s, I learned that the previous occupant had been an elderly woman.  Judging by the peeling paint, broken gutters and jungle of weeds smothering her roses, I realized I was one of many people who must have driven by her home without noticing her needs. 
 
Recently, talented friend Dusty Frank put vocals and instruments to my song and I photographed a similar house to fit the music.

 If you'd like to hear the song and watch my video, see if you can find a quiet time without interruptions.  The lyrics are key to the story -- and the message of the season!   


Click image for photo song
 
9
Big Bang Theory

Every morning when I close my front door
and walk past my wife's blue mini-coop
to get into my truck
my whole Universe erupts
in a million tiny droplets of dew...


Click image for rest of my "Theory"
 
 
11 
Guess who's coming to dinner? 

Do spiders stalk spiders?  And if so, do they attack spiders
four times their size -- in the larger spider's own web?  

Click image for a trip to the local diner 
 
8
Cattle dog arrested for herding sea cows

(Canine Times, Dec. 2011) "I don't know what the big deal is," argued Taz Renz. "Those manatees were going every which way. They needed some order and discipline, and I felt I was just doing my job."   A spokesperson at FWC said...


Click image for rest of article

Mark and Marisa Renz, 213 Lincoln Ave., Lehigh Acres, FL 33936

Phone: 239-368-3252    e-mail:  fossilx@earthlink.net

 

Web Sites:

FloridaTimeForgot.com                        FossilExpeditions.com MegalodonExpeditions.com                    PaleoPress.net     

 
Thank you!  I hope you enjoyed your visit!

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