Reds, PVB

Blue chair, PVIC

Janie's dock, PVB

Our dock had started to get rickety. I have had plants on it for 20 years and the wood under the pots had rotted to an unsafe degree. My wife, Janie, decided to redo it. She measured and had the lumber delivered. One day she and a friend from Habitat for Humanity Paul (thank you Paul), where she volunteers twice a week, got it started. For the next week she ripped up old wood, cut and placed new wood and screwed it down tight. This is about the halfway point and it is now finished. The work is superb. I had nothing to do with the build. She didn't even use me for stoop labor (I am quite good at being in the way). So we now have a lovely new dock. I am so proud of her.

PVIC

Nocatee, 2017

Nocatee is a giant planned community across the Intra Coastal Waterway from where we live. It consists of thousands of acres and numerous planned developments within it's borders. It spans parts of Duval and St. John's counties. It was conceived and started just before the recession of 2007-2008. The land got cleared and the roads and infrastructure built and then the downturn took hold. The developers had planned well enough so that all of the landscaping and roadwork was covered and maintained even in hard times. I used to go drive over there and not see a soul. Empty roads, bold signs and perfect landscaping. As the country recovered, houses started to go up and new communities finished. The pace has continued to pick up and whole swatches of brand new houses appear, seemingly overnight.

This was taken in one of the newest ones. Not one of these houses is much over a year old and all of them are occupied. Every road, tree and lawn is perfect, new and young. No people are out and about and it is very quiet. I attribute it to the fact that many of these families haven't even met their neighbors yet and so, keep to themselves. In a few years there will be signs of wear, new plantings, taller trees and a sense of community. This is sort of like a history museum before the history.

Garlic, Lourmarin, 2015

Esprit Sauvage, Lourmarin, 2015

Lourmarin, 2015

Divided driveways, MSD