i had to take a picture of the stinging nettles as we were leaving the beach the other day. i have such a vivid memory of them from my childhood. i was perhaps eight, making my sister and her friends seventeen or so. we were walking home from the beach, much like this day, and ronald pickett dared me to step on one for a quarter. of course, i did it, but he never did give me a quarter. i remember this story every single time i see a stinging nettle. whatever does this say about me?
this is the road i traveled on the school bus for ten years. the beach is just to the right beyond the palm trees. and yes, i did take that view for granted.
i know some of you were wondering how i managed to stand in the middle of the road to take that last picture. well, you see, they ripped out the highway on this stretch of the beach to put in a large (for our area) beach housing development. now the view is unavailable when traveling to town on this stretch. i'm not complaining too much, as they did put in the lovely beach access area for the locals. nice of them.
they also planted some gorgeous magnolias in the parking lot.
the magnolia is one of those iconic symbols of the south. stately, elegant, wild, and well rooted.
at this moment in time i began contemplating the whiteness of the beach flowers. it made sense, i suppose, what with all that white sand. it was interesting to me none the less.
then i glimpsed the tiniest speck of purple out the corner of my eye and immediately set off to investigate.
purple led to pink.
and before I knew it, i was in a boggy pond area discovering a treasure trove of colorful native blooms (and creatures).
it always amazes me to see such delicate beauty rising from the mucky sludge.
i probably could have stayed all day, but the car was loaded down with soggy boys who'd been promised ice cream cones.
until next time . . .
Those wildflowers are gorgeous!!
ReplyDelete