Trees Are Good - The difference in temperature between our Pasture and Yard that we fondly call the Tunnel of Trees beginning July 29, 2014

Noticing a difference in temperature between the Pasture and the Tunnel of Trees we put a thermometer in both places to record exactly how different the temperatures are in each... we'll just let the pictures tell the story.

Where we live in Central Florida is a Pine Sandhill we call it The Tunnel of Trees. It's loaded with Laurel Oaks, Longleaf (long needle) Pines and a few Live Oak and Hickory Trees. We also have the pasture where a few Laurel Oaks, Scrub Live Oaks and Turkey Oaks live. 

An intro video to the Tunnel of Trees and The Pasture.

Scroll down to see the thermometers. 

The Tunnel of Trees

The Pasture

Trees are good! 

He who plants a Tree plants a hope. - Lucy Larcom

#ArborDayFoundation  #EarthDay

AQHA Cajun Kid Flower 1976-2012

ApHC Miss Thinkin 1983-2014

These 2 horses loved on us and lived with us from 1995 until the day they passed.

They absolutely loved every minute of Life!

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Trees are an amazing thing when it's almost 90 degrees in April in Central Florida

It's 9:00 am on Tuesday April 16, 2024.  I headed out for a walk and this craziness is what I found. 

It's a nice cool 68 degrees in the Tunnel of Trees.

The scary thing is that it's 88 degrees in the pasture. 

The sun has only been baking on this pole since 6:53 this morning. 

So in a little over 2 hours the temperature in the pasture is 20 degrees different from the 

Tunnel of Trees. 

Trees are Good! Treaty Oak in Jacksonville and Voodoo Plants are Amazing Things too! April 12, 2024

Today, Friday April 5, 2024 is a beautiful day in Central Florida. There is a nice breeze and depending on where you are... it's hovering around 80 degrees. This weather is the reason we're in Florida!

 

In the Tunnel of Trees it's 78 degrees and 

in the pasture it's 82. 

Trees Are Good! 

The last time this Voodoo Lily bloomed in our yard was 1999. Happy to see it again! The smell of rotting meat is so the plant can attract carrion eating bugs for it's pollination. It's beautiful but smells nasty :-) 

 

We visited downtown Jacksonville and Jessie Ball Dupont Park where Treaty Oak lives. 

If you love trees like we do, You have got to see this one! 

Trees are Good as we Celebrate Florida's Arbor Day Tomorrow ~ Jan 20th 2024

Today is Friday January 19, 2024, these pictures were taken at 9:51 am. The Tunnel of Trees and Pasture are holding about the same 68 degree temperatures. Winter has been average for us, mid 70s to 40s and 50s, nothing too crazy. This is my favorite time of year! We've gotten more rain than in past Winters but I think we're making up for the dry Spring and Summer we had. I've seen wetter Winters (2014/2015) for sure. 

 

This first video is our Turkey Oaks in the Pasture. They are a beautiful shade of Orange! 

In the Tunnel of Trees we have 2 Hickorys and they throw a pretty yellow contrast to our Long-leaf Pines and Laurel Oaks. In the first of these 2 videos you can hear a Crow doing it's thing. In the second video, you can hear our Red-headed Woodpeckers that moved in last Spring. 

The Broken Oak also lives in the Tunnel of Trees. He's been this way since July 2023 and he's putting out new shoots so we're just letting him do what he needs to. The Squirrels use him as a highway and the Hickory to the South dazzles him with her shades of yellow.

We love watching our trees grow and change. It's amazing what Mother Nature can do when you just observe her magic and not try too hard to alter her creations. 

#HappyArborDayFlorida! #ArborDay2024

Trees are a good thing in December of 2023 and the old Ice House is getting revamped!

It's December 20th 2023, the day before the Winter Solstice. I took these pics at 2:00 pm when often times the temps in the Tunnel of Trees and the Pasture are very similar as is the case here. What a strange year for weather patterns. It hasn't rained in several weeks but last Saturday Dec 16th we got 4 inches ~ happy to have it! 

On another note, the St Johns River in Astor, FL is still at minor flood stage but 

the old Ice House/Dance Hall is being revamped and will soon be lived in as a home.

We found out that she was built in 1926, in a little over 2 years she will be 100 years old!

Photo credit: Our Friend Tim Galle who did some work on the house and spoke with the owner about her build date. The deed says 1926 was when she was built.  

Trees are a great thing to have and so are Red-headed Woodpeckers! October 25, 2023

Today is Wednesday October 25, 2023 and it's 3:30 pm. After 6 years in the weather and brutal summers of Central Florida it was time to buy a new thermometer for our pasture photos. Don't worry, I compared it with the tunnel of trees thermometer for a few days and they were identical so it passed the Trees Are Good test :-). 

So today in the tunnel of trees it was 83 degrees at 3:30 while in the pasture...

It's 86 degrees and this thermometer is actually being shaded by the fence post.

On a side note, Sunday October 8, 2023 we heard unfamiliar birds in our yard. After letting the Merlin app listen we've identified there are 4 Red-headed Woodpeckers living here for the first time. Kenny built the house in 1990 and we've never heard them here at all! It's so exciting!! We always knew we had Red-bellied, Pileated and Downey Woodpeckers but to have this group show up is a welcome sight! 

photo credit to www.allaboutbirds.org 

 

Trees are Good on September 24, 2023 and the temperatures are cooling down in Central Florida!

 Our Tunnel of Trees is such a great place to spend time!

Today it's 80 degrees at 10:45 am and what a pleasant day it is!

The Pasture got a much needed bush hogging today and was only 86 degrees at 10:45 am. 

Life is Good! 

It's August 8th 2023 and We Couldn't Be More Thankful for Our Trees!!

We all know it's been a hot summer throughout the entire US and maybe the world! My jaw hit the ground this morning when I went out to check the thermometers though. 

Our Tunnel of Trees at 9:15 am was already at 88 degrees...

But it was the Pasture that really floored me ~ 104 degrees at 9:15 am?

 #PleasePlantTrees #LearnMoreAboutThem #TreesAreGood #ArborDayFoundation #HereToHelp  

 

Trees Are a Good Thing ~ June 15, 2023

You'd better believe trees are a good thing. 

If we didn't have our tree covered yard we'd be burning up in the Florida sun! 

2023 has been brutally dry with just a few rain showers here and there and those that hit have been freaky in nature. Last night we had a storm blow through at 12:30 am with 60 mph winds... sounded like a hurricane. In May we got 4 inches of rain in about 1.5  hours! The rest of the year so far has been hot with only sparse bits of rain that don't really penetrate the ground. 

Our weather is becoming more and more strange.

It's 10:15 am on June 15, 2023 and the sun, being so far in the northern sky, has been baking this thermometer in our yard. Right now it reads 89 degrees but in another hour it will hold it's own or even go down with the shade provided by our Oak, Pine hammock. 

The trees from the yard are keeping the temps in the pasture at bay... it's only 86 degrees

When the sun gets a little higher it's game on!

 

The Cattle Crossing, Lighthouse, Jungle Den and Old Ice House ~ St. Johns River, Astor, FL

The St Johns River and Lake George, Astor, FL

THE "CATTLE CROSSING" AND OLD LIGHTHOUSE / POST OFFICE

Located at the South end of Lake George, at the mouth of the St Johns River, is what we locals call the "Cattle Crossing". It's where the channel is located and was used by the Paddlewheel Boats of the late 1800s that brought goods to and from Central Florida. The old Tug Boats that brought oil to the DeBary Power Plant, before it was powered by natural gas, used it until the mid 1990s.

To the West of the Cattle Crossing is what's left of the old Post Office. It was also a lighthouse to show boaters the way to the channel.

THE OLD ICE HOUSE, FISH CAMP AND DANCE HALL

This is the old Fish House in Astor, FL. It's where the Crabbers and Fishermen brought their fresh catches of the day to be iced down and shipped back out by boat. We think it was possibly built in the 1930's or 40's. It was also called the Astor Ice House, Fish Camp and Dance Hall.

December 1949 

August 9th, 2020

July 30, 2022

September 5, 2022

 September 5, 2022, it's starting to look a bit rough.

JUNGLE DEN 

This is Jungle Den in Astor, FL. It had a thriving restaurant until 2004 when Hurricanes Charlie, Francis, Ivan and Jeanne hit. The St Johns River flooded into the restaurant and it never reopened. The hotel and boat ramp continued to be used for several years after that though.

August 9, 2020

April 2021

July 30, 2022 and all that is left are the trees!

Trees are Good April 24, 2023 ~ Earth Day Weedend

It's 11:40 am on Sunday April 24th, 2023. The Tunnel of Trees is showing 84 degrees... not too shabby.

We celebrated Earth Day yesterday on the boat. 

We think we might have turned 2 newbies into birders :-)

 The Pasture is a whopping 95 degrees... that's too warm for April :-(

Trees Are Good on April 11th and 12th 2023 ~ so is Rain

The temperatures in March were in the high 80's and even the 90's and that's no fun! We maybe got 1/4 inch of rain all month but things are looking up in April! 

So for fun... we took pics last night April 11th at 9:30 pm. 

 The Tunnel of Oak and Pine Trees was 68 degrees

The Pasture was a surprising 62 degrees, 6 degrees cooler than the Tunnel of Trees? We learn something new and fascinating each time we do this.

This morning at 9:30 on April 12th, we took pictures of the thermometers again...

The Pasture was 68 degrees and the Tunnel of Trees was 71. 

The major difference between the two?

The shaded Tunnel of Trees continues to collect and drop bits of water. 

 The pasture is dry as a bone.

Monday April 10, 2023 we got about 1/2 inch of MUCH NEEDED rain and the temps are in the high 70's ~ right where they should be.

This is the ST479 or Tiger, she's a WWII Tug. She was anchored along the St. Johns River during her voyage from Jacksonville back home to Deland, FL. The water receded and she's stuck 

in Astor for right now. 

It's Hot as Blue Blazes in Central Florida!! ~ Trees Are Good February 25, 2023

At 3:00pm on Saturday Feb 25th 2023 it was 90 degrees in the Tunnel of Trees. Because these trees shade the pasture until about noon, it was close to the same in the Pasture. 

The Laurel Oaks in the Tunnel of Trees have lost most of their leaves and are putting out new ones as well as flower nodules. It's unseasonably warm for February but sure is a pretty sight!

 One week later (March 4th) and the trees have popped!