Sandra Friend
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Sandra Friend
@sandrafriend.com
Author. Science geek. History wonk. Nature nut. Space Hipster. Recovering guidebook writer now making things up. SandraFriend.com
It's a wild ride so far!
January 24, 2026 at 1:41 PM
I'm highly allergic to cats, sadly, so you'll rarely see a #caturday from me. However, I did get up close to this Jacksonville Zoo jaguar on a bitter cold day last week. Closest I've ever seen one.
@cityofjax.bsky.social

#photography #jacksonville #jaguars #naturephotos #eastcoastkin
January 24, 2026 at 10:35 AM
Yum. Flavors of farm fresh St. Augustine made my vegan palette happy last week at The Feed Mill.

#januarty2026 #foodonfriday #farmtotable #vegan #alphagalfriendly #staugustine
January 24, 2026 at 3:41 AM
Because hell yes, Minnesota rocks.

The Cascade River does exactly what it says as it drops to Lake Superior through Cascade River State Park.

#waterfallwednesday #photography #nature #photosky #minnesota #geology #rocks
January 22, 2026 at 12:55 AM
A late entrant for #thicktrunktuesday: one of Florida's largest live oaks, well hidden within an old motor court complex in St. Augustine but not missed by the tourist trains and trolley trams.

#bigtrees #liveoak #theoldsenator #historiccoast
January 21, 2026 at 2:32 AM
A bright bloom to bring a speck of cheer to a day of existential drear. Hibiscus, happy to be itself.

#photography #red #flower #hibscus #naturecalling #photosky
January 21, 2026 at 1:12 AM
From Star Struck. I have no troll (noun) in any of my WIPs so I'm going with a vibe with mock, which does come up a handful of times.
January 20, 2026 at 11:12 AM
January 19, 2026 at 11:26 AM
#stunday sunrise along the Atlantic Ocean on a chilly morning in Vilano Beach.

#sunrise #oceanfront #beach #saintaugustine
January 18, 2026 at 11:49 PM
Joining today's #BlueSkyArtShow
The theme is #One

Art with a focus on the singular.
While in #StAugustine this week I focused on hidden, historic art. These were created by Gilded Age artisans for the Ponce De Leon Hotel, now @flaglercollege.bsky.social

#art #artists #supportartists #photgraphy
January 17, 2026 at 5:41 PM
For #BirdoftheDay, today's theme is raptor and alternative #Anatidae (geese, swans and ducks). I don't visit zoos often but this Australian blue-billed duck at the Jacksonville Zoo proved a compelling composition on a very dreary day.

#ducks #bluebilledduck #jacksonville #florida
January 15, 2026 at 11:13 AM
Two #longbeak birds I spotted today while walking along coastal marshes at low tide, great candidates for #birdoftheday
January 15, 2026 at 2:22 AM
Visual delight, technical disaster: an early Edison electric clock that couldn't be repaired when it failed because it was set into an immovable block of onyx. I feel an essay coming on about time and technology. Simmering now.

#clock #artistry #technology #thomasedison #staugustine #flaglercollege
January 14, 2026 at 1:13 PM
Target acquired
Trajectory plotted
Computer chirps: "unmissable!"
And yet
The flutter of wings
A variable uncompensated
Deflects the danger
Downs the aggressor
"Success!" the crows crow

#unmissable #vss365 #poetry
January 10, 2026 at 9:45 AM
The writer surfaces
From intense communion with the page
To staccato phrases
Parsed between sips of coffee
Macchiato, cappucino, Americano
Enlighten the customers
Waiting on #delivery of caffeine
Theirs is nigh

#vss365 #poetry
January 10, 2026 at 12:14 AM
The blessing of being flora
No need to preen nor strut
Like the birds in the marsh
Simply reach for the sun
As blossoms adorn your crown

#vss365 #adorn #poetry
January 9, 2026 at 12:45 AM
This one!
January 8, 2026 at 10:58 AM
A #symphony of color and light
Infuses the horizon
drawing us across a reflective expanse
to receive nature's chaotic embrace.

#vss365 #poetry #sunset
January 7, 2026 at 11:33 AM
Intriguing sculpture at the entrance to Wellfield Botanic Gardens in Elkhart, Indiana.

#travel #indiana #crystalball #fountain #gardens
January 6, 2026 at 9:39 PM
When nature says turn back: a hike devolves, burrowing towards deadly poisonous plants, vine-choked trees, and a gathering of vultures on a dead-end #footpath built atop the bones of an abandoned phosphate mine. Spooked, much?

- Saddle Creek Park, Lakeland, Florida

#spooked #hiking #vss365
January 6, 2026 at 11:51 AM
Another #oddball moment:
Time stops
Heartbeat drums an unfamiliar rhythm
I take a deep breath
And step into the stars.

#vss365
January 6, 2026 at 12:04 AM
Uncluttering my overstuffed photo library on my phone one album at a time, so I thought I'd start sharing a photo from each as I banish them to hard drive storage.

Summer blooms at Greenfield Village, Dearborn, Michigan

#photography #travelphotos #michigan #garden #greenfieldvillage
January 5, 2026 at 6:38 PM
#Clueless, I remain
As to why the hustle-bustle of consumerism
Why do they want so much?
Why take more than you need?
Time in nature
Time around art
Refreshes spirit.
Not shiny things, discarded later
Bloated baubles, conspicuous
in their electro-whiz plasticity
Cheap commercial crap.

#vss365
January 4, 2026 at 9:30 PM
Marshy cove in Little Lake Harris at the end of the boardwalk at Sarah Maude Mason Nature Preserve, Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida

#stunday #lakeviews #waterlilies #marsh #floridahikes #centralflorida #hiking #naturephotos #nature #photography
January 4, 2026 at 9:05 PM
#Balderdash and fiddlesticks
Whoop-de-doos and radar blips
Reality melts like Dali's visions
Assaulted by false revisions
The doublespeak of official mouthpieces
The twisted nonsense of oligarchs' media
Thinks us fools.
Who do you trust?

#vss365
January 3, 2026 at 2:30 PM