A quick look south and inward

Actually, it's looking north, but from a very Southern- most per- spective.

One of my tasks on the island a few weeks back was to hack that fern along the pool edge back into control. Locals call it a "macho" fern -- huge dense fronds, and it grows like crazy. (We brought some to Tennessee, and they're just as macho in a winter greenhouse or summer pot.)

Mind you, this is one plant that started out small in the corner, and Topsified along the north and east edges of the pool. It almost muscled out the Key West buttercups just to the right of the fountain, but I rooted out about a bushel.

And yes, that's a lovely little yellow orchid blooming halfway up one of the foxtail palm trunks in the corner. When I took the picture, the purple orchid halfway up the palm on the right was just about to pop.

And that little white spot just to the left of the fountain? White Tara, in Tibetan Buddhism a Mother Goddess who brings compassion, long life and serenity. She was a gift from my friend Lou, whose daughter Gail is now Gyelse -- a Tibetan Buddhist nun about to go on a five-year retreat, no contact with the outside world. It brings me serenity to know that I'm in their thoughts, as they are in mine.