Our little island works hard at keeping land developers at bay. It is zoned primarily for agriculture which is what keeps its rural charm, a part of old Florida that still remains. Several times a week, I pass by this scene a couple of miles up the road from me, and know that if I don’t get a picture now, someday it will be gone. The cabbage or sabal palms, as they are called, are native to this area and can withstand their watery surroundings as well as hurricanes.
Primarily pasture land, it is so low in areas that water often remains, especially this rainy season. Attracting herons, ibis and egrets is its gift to nature. Look closely at the photo and you will see a speck of pink…the roseate spoonbill. They are feasting on the multitude of frogs found in this marshy area.
As I turn my camera around to the other side of the road, the tall pines in this palm grove are silhouetted. Bald eagles, ospreys, and hawks are often spotted, but not this time.
Looking back at the marshy area, I am reminded of the Caloosa Indians who lived in this area 6000 years ago. Little has changed in this spot. My imagination takes over and I believe I see a young boy pulling his dugout through the marshy grass. Then, someone’s car honks and I am reminded I am still in civilization.
On the Go with Lynne 
Lets hear it for strong, and enforceable, planning laws! Gorgeous shots too, Lynne. 🙂
This natural beauty is what brought us here and it is worth fighting for. Thanks Meredith. I’m having fun with my camera.
Nothing like coming back down to earth with a bump, Lynne. 🙂
Beautiful shots.
Downright blatant…disturbing my peaceful moment. 🙂
Your home territory is as unspoiled as some of the places to which you travel, Lynne–you’re very lucky. Thanks for sharing.
There are three nature preserves on Pine Island and organizations who buy small and large tracts just to keep it unspoiled. However, there are those who want RV parks, movie theaters and strip malls. It’s just a matter of time. I am very blessed to be able to live here while it remains natural, to appreciate it, and yes, to travel to unspoiled places. Thanks for your intuitive comment, VB.
Beautiful Lynne, you’ve touched on exactly what drew us to our special little island as opposed to many other places in FL.
Thanks, Carol.Between the natural beauty, fishing and kayaking, we really do live in a special, unique place.
i am now home, and i am so lucky to see this as my welcome-back post! wow! this is a lovely post, and so well written! how dare that car startle you back into the present tense! i often picture ‘my’ little river through the same eyes, and i am lucky to see the fishermen in their primitive dugouts or wooden canoes as they push upriver with their very-primitive paddles. at dawn, it really does look as if i am in another time, and then, poof,- someone turns on a pump and shatters the silence.
sign. we’re lucky that we have these slices of pure beauty!
Am glad this post made your day, Lisa. Change is inevitable most anywhere, but at least we can take a moment and imagine what it really must have been like. I love your river and was upset when they took out the mangroves and put in rock….only to have it slide into the river. Payback. I marvel at the bird life you have along the river. Beautiful.
You are good!!! I feel love again!! Julie
Glad this uplifted you, Julie. 🙂
How wonderful to have such beauty near your home. I loved being able to spot the roseate spoonbill in your photo, thank you for pointing him out!
We don’t see many of the rosette’s, so when we do, we feel lucky. I was quite a distance when I took this photo and the birds were still skittish. Thanks for dropping by, Letzia.
Beautiful…I feel similarly when I visit some places here…can see what it might have been when indigenous people inhabited the space. We’re fortunate there are still those places we can catch a glimpse of it…
You are right. We are fortunate to live near places of natural beauty. We just have to be stewards of it. Over hundred years ago when settlers lived here, they used shell mounds to spread for their roads. Turned out the mounds were from the indigenous and now all this is protected. You come from a beautiful region.
It is a beautiful island and the ONLY place in FL to live. We have to fight the developers or it will turn into more houses and shopping centers. I remember Miami and the Keys having alot more open spaces. I know you do too.
I do enjoy these open spaces. Thank goodness we don’t have beaches on this island or we would be another Sanibel.
You certainly have captured what we love about Pine Island. Good job!
Thanks Randy and Dianne. We still love it here even though our friends are elsewhere. Miss you guys.
I visited Pine Island once. Pristine, beautiful place to live. You are so fortunate that civilization hasn’t encroached on your privacy, YET!!! Keep fighting, Lynne. Your photos are gorgeous. I wish I could hear the birds…not the car horn, though. lol
Thanks, Debbie. Pine Island is unique because it is on a bed of coral surrounded by mangroves;therefore, no beaches….thank goodness. When we want to go to the beach, we go by boat which is closer. Our tourism is mainly fishing.
It looks like a beautiful area, Lynn. I really hope no one builds condos here! That would ruin yet another beautiful natural spot in this world! 🙂
It is unique and definitely old Florida. An inconvenient place to live…not close to anything, but we are willing to live that way as long as our health says we can.
That’s great. I would try to do so too! If you’re happy in a place, I say stay there as long as possible!
Sounds like a great trip!! Every time we visit a forest, away from civilization and all the nettlesome trivial things that come with it, I feel like my soul has undergone a cleansing. Keep fighting to keep your island what it is now!! 🙂
Love the photos!!
How nice to hear from you Sumithra…half way around the world. Hope your studies are going well. We all need places to cleanse our souls and nature is the first place to run too. 🙂
A beautiful post that pulled me into your pastoral paradise Lynne. Felt like that car horn broke into my reverie too….halfway around the world! 😀
Reality always brings us back around. I wonder if I could ever adjust to living in a city. I suppose one does, and many prefer all that it has to offer. For now, I’ll just enjoy our little spot.
What a a gorgeous area you live in, Lynne. Long may it remain unspoilt by development and so called ‘progress’. I love the reflections in your first pic. 🙂
Thanks, Sylvia for your lovely comment, especially while you’re on holiday in lovely Cornwall. Yes, this is an unspoiled area; our paradise.
Lynne, what a beautiful part of the world you live in, and yet you still have such wanderlust! Here’s hoping that it will remain such a peaceful haven. (On a side note, some of those lush landscape shots really remind me of Cambodia.)
Tricia, you won’t believe this, but just a couple of days ago, the low marshy areas were being filled in. There go the birds. I agree, it does resemble parts of Cambodia. I remember the bike ride that you and Shawn took out in the Cambodian countryside and had a stuffed animal with you. I believe you gave it to one of the children. I think that was the first post of yours I read.
gorgeousness!
Thanks, Cindy. I just hope it stays this way.