This is a blog about a place I love, a tiny little island in Northeast Florida. It is about our daily life and the folks we meet and greet amid the nature all around us.
from themotherhuddle.com It is over 70 degrees on the Island today. When we took our walk downtown shorts and no jackets were the order of the day. Still some shopping by a few hurrying here and there. We take a moment to give thanks, for so much. Thanks for the Coming of the Lord. Tonight all the churches here will rejoice and bells ring out over the Island.
A departure from Christmas themes. Since our walk the other morning, the photographs I captured are fresh, just asking for elaboration and sharing.
I have been waiting to use this poem for ages.
I read it in college and it comes to mind on days such as this one.
"The fog comes
on little car feet
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on."
Carl Sandburg
Eerie, the haunting photos tell of the mist which muffled
sounds around it. But a few steps over the railroad tracks from our little downtown the harbor in all of its faces reflects the south, the sea, an island. This day a face that
speaks of olden days, hiding secrets in its grey cloak.
Linear shapes go aloft through the mist with their shadows playing beneath.
The fog has kept boat owners close in their holds awaiting the sun to let them
travel on. Their names read: Maine, New Jersey, and on and on.
A lone pelican seeking an early meal.
Does one walk into yesteryear from this pier?
For us lucky denizens of this Island, it is only another face of our home showing a unique kind of beauty, a dreamy one that defines an island as off by itself, close by the mother land or far and away. My husband walks off to the end of a pier looking for little surprises be it close by or at a distance. As the fog came closer and then receded this beauty was revealed. The sun is starting to waken the day calling forth the shrimping boat on the right. Below is my favorite shot of the day. It could have been taken a hundred years ago when this Island was a very different place.
I imagine sailor -speak would have a title for a sight like this one. The sun coming
slowly out over the horizon promising a clearer day.
Edgar Allen Poe once wrote .."all that we see or dream is but a dream within a dream." Walking in the misty harbor you get that Poe feeling.
I took the above photograph in the harbor and then revised it on an application revealing
this spook catamaran and the lovely bird on its right. All of the photos in this post were taken by Yours Truly..
On a island that once was the favorite haunt of pirates (historical fact and tales for another day) one turns to old ghost stories. So before the sun comes out I leave you with this...
The little angel frolicking in the surf comes from Pinterest. It says just what I want it to say-Christmastide has come to Amelia Island. No Black Friday for us: it is a blue and gold and red Friday with lots of tinsel and sea shells to show for it. Lights have been strung on pier posts and a message hung on light posts.... that message is one of peace.
Our day after Thanksgiving is not one of rush and bustle. Matter of fact it is a fun day downtown with folks still dressed in their pajamas... If you are wearing pj's you get a 20% discount on your downtown Christmas shopping. Plus, you have a whole sleigh full of fun. It is a chilly day but it did not stop the fun and good humor. I think this year there were more grown-ups acting like children then the other way around.
This next merry gentleman is enjoying himself and is the hit of the day. Just to his right
notice that this year we had a bell ringer making lovely music.
The shops are all decorated. Pajama clad and otherwise shoppers stroll slowly among other strollers. There is nothing that looks like an unhappy crowd. Shops offer free refreshment and around a corner Santa is set up to hear secret lists. Another corner and lo, a little band is setting up. A new charming toy store glistens and invites just across. Look to the end of the street and boats bob in the harbor.
Another Christmas in Amelia for us, the ninth one. Each year the Christmas scene here delights and refreshes. No arguments on should if we should call it Christmas! You can bet your traveling elf, not a one. It is a traditional, if quirky season for us here in this southern town and it is all ours.
Christmas is very precious here. We are reminded of it's real meaning, the sense of giving and caring. You can hear the ringing of the Salvation army bells manned by volunteers all over the Island and the sound of giving. If it turns cold our volunteer cold shelters are ready for the less fortunate. Amelia Island is a small town with a big heart especially at Christmas.
There is autumn right here in Amelia Beach, Florida. Today it is a chilly 46 degrees but then tomorrow will be back in the 60's or 70's. See. here is a changing tree to prove it. One of the reasons we love the Island is that it has the seasons....without SNOW and ICE. This is great for us transplanted New Englanders!
Still it goes back and forth, you can see it was cooler on this Saturday when we were at the Farmer's Market. This little lady was wearing her holiday sweater near her owner's booth selling goat's milk products
and also quail eggs....hmmm, enticing to try.
There is now a craft alley at the Farmer's Market in downtown Fernandina Beach and I was taken with this crafter's booth shared with her father's wood bowls. The shell candle holders are made of oyster shells and just lovely. The wooden bowls are carved from a particular type of tree that grows in our swamps here. The tree is beyond its time but the years have made fascinating shapes which are a crafter's dreams.
I know a gentlemen here on the Island who makes wondrous canes with them.
A very special wooden bowl ....a keeper.
Our shell artist, Kangee Graham, with her wares.
All in all, another lovely Saturday morning in downtown Amelia Island, where
We have said before that each time we wander downtown we experience a special moment! In this case, it was a treat. We have been waiting for Nana Teresa's Bake Shop
to open at 31 S. 5th Street ever since we saw the sign go up.
We had actually met Nana herself before the opening as our taste buds were urging
us down to see progress on the shop.
We, we wait no more. Neither should you! This is such a welcome addition to our little Island, it brings a sense of chic class. You are in for deserts as you have never seen nor tasted ( of course, other than your Mom's). The treats are beautifully concocted and displayed but what they taste like is amazing. I am thinking Paris, folks, or the North End in Boston.
I have tasted delicacies in both places.
Nana Teresa herself
The shop is in one of our historic buildings and care has been taken
to respect that in every way.
I loved getting a peak into her kitchen, or sitting out on the porch and letting the afternoon waft away.
Let me say, here, that none of my recommendations are paid advertisements...they are what we enjoy and it our pleasure to share with Islanders and Visitors both.
My photos do not do Nana teresa's justice so please go see for yourselves....
See Nana Teresa's Facebook page where I found some of these photographs for lots more information. Nicely she is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
You will appreciate the beautiful ambiance just as much as the delicacies!!
Fortunate is the person who lives on a little island where the ocean surrounds our souls as well as our bodies. They sell recordings of the sounds of the sea!
We get to listen all the time.
Below is a photo taken by my friend Lisa Robertson on one of their recent sailing trips. Need I add more? God's glory sung in silence and color.
A poem to accompany it.
We are entering high season in Amelia, meaning summer, the beach and boats. The Shrimp Festival has come and gone, not affected by one rainy day. Tourists are everywhere. Those of us who live here retreat to our corners of beach and yard and hunker down to tend our gardens. New restaurants are opening yet to try. We work in the mornings and nap in the afternoon til the cool of evening. It is summer in the Southland, on a little island of beauty. Afternoon thunderstorms
