Matanzas River - “Return to me”

I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”

Isaiah 44:22

Moultrie Creek - He heals the Brokenhearted

 

The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars
    and calls them each by name.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
    his understanding has no limit.
6 The Lord sustains the humble
    but casts the wicked to the ground.

Psalms 147:2-6

MoultrIe Creek - Quiet Resting Places

 

   Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
And righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
  The work of righteousness will be peace,
And the effect of righteousness, quietness and 

   assurance forever.
   My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation,
In secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places,
  Though hail comes down on the forest,
And the city is brought low in humiliation.

  Blessed are you who sow beside all waters,
Who send out freely the feet of the ox and the donkey.

Isaiah 32:16-20 NKJV

 

You are My Hiding Place

 

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble.

Psalm 32:7

“It is He Who Made Us, and We are His”

Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Psalm 100:3

Rapture in the Lonely Shore

There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more.

George Gordon Byron

Don't Look Back!

 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying 'Hurry!  Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished."

When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.  As soon as they had brought them out one of them said, "Flee for your lives!  Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain!  Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"

But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please!  Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life.  But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll die.   Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small.  Le me flee to it--it is very small, isn't it?  then my life will be spared."

He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of.  But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it."  (that is why the town was called Zoar.)

By the tie Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land.  then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah--from the LORD out of heavens.  Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities--and also the vegetation in the land.  But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Genesis 19:15-22 NIV

Shores Drive Park Intracoastal - Worth More then Sparrows

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don't be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.  

Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in Heaven.  But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."

Matthew 10:29-34 NIV

Beyond the Galaxies

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?

Psalm 8:3-4 NRSV

Out of the Deep Waters

Then the channels of the sea were seen.  
The foundations of the world were uncovered, 
At the rebuke of the Lord, 
At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.  
He sent from above, He took me, 
He drew me out of many waters.
He reached down from on high and took hold of me; 
He drew me out of deep waters.

2 Samuel 22:16-17

"I am with you always...'

 

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Matthew 28:19-20

"Blessed are the Poor In Spirit"

 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

~Matthew 5:3 NIV

The Friend of Silence

 "We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness.  God is the friend of Silence...We need silence to be able to touch souls."

~Mother Teresa

Dairy of a Sunset

 

It was a cloudy afternoon so I wanted to take photos of the sun setting over the marsh at Matanzas River.  Naturally, the clouds drifted away and became sparse as the sun was going down behind the trees in the distance.  There was a lot of birds in flight across the marsh and several sail boats had dock for the evening.  I like the scenery of the birds flying across the horizon against the sun.  There are sail boats at opposite ends of the sunset and the marsh reflected a reddish glow. 

Sunset over Matanzas River and Marsh

 

 

Waterway Park is a small park with nature trails and a view of Matanzas Fort, River and the marsh. The trees glowed with the evening sunlight.  The sky turned reddish orange over the green lush colors of the marsh just a spectacular scene.

Morning Sun Matanzas Marsh

A Hike to Tolomato River

Walked first hiking trail in several months at Guana Tolomato Matanzas Reserve off A1A located between Vilano Beach and South Ponte Verde.

Marshview Lane

 

 Marshview Lane Trail is my favorite hiking trail at Guana River.  It crosses a freshwater marsh and has a large variety of grasses, wildflowers, trees, and reptiles.  A long deck was part of the trail to help cross the marsh.

Bulow Creek - Hiking Red Trail

 

 

The Red Trail at Bulow State Park has some gorgeous scenery of the marsh and creek.  It was one of the most picturesque trails I have hiked between Bulow Creek State Park and the historical Bulow Plantation Ruins.

Green Land Feathers

 

White Trail has a lot of bridges to help hikers cross the salt marsh and swamp areas on the trail.  There is a lot of wet land at the preserve.  The woods at Durbin Creek was covered with ferns.  I thought of them as green land feathers.  They are so light and easily bend with the breeze. These are the same ferns growing at my house as well as my mother's.  Pine trees are lanky and tall and the thick undergrowth of the ferns adds a nice green hue of softness to the wet swamp areas and helps to cool the woods under the harsh hot climate.