Craving sun and warmth. No time (or dinero) to head south. So I’m dipping into my photo albums for a little digital vacay. Here are some pix taken in Sanibel, Florida, in November. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did taking them. (Keep scrolling down this page to see them all.)

I love how a garden in this part of the world can be casually stuffed with plants that are growing like weeds while, back home, the same plants would be coddled houseplants or sold by the exotic stem in a florist shop.

I’m not sure what’s more hypnotic: watching the patterns of palm leaves flickering in the sunlight or listening to the rustle of the fronds in a warm breeze.

I find the larger birds of Sanibel fascinating. Here are shots of Great Egrets, an osprey and a pelican.

Not everything in Sanibel is pretty. But the fascination never ends. Birds of Paradise blooms look like aliens. And–hello!–tree climbing crabs (yes, you read right) make the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. If I’m not wearing a hat, I pause before walking under a canopy of branches as well. [Shudder.]

Looking forward to coming back, soon.