Sometimes one of the best things you can do is waste a little time on a dock. There’s nothing more peaceful than hearing the water splash from a diving bird or listening to kids get a kick out of a floating snake on a lilly pad. No thinking. Just listening and watching…and maybe snapping a few photos. That’s what makes me forget about traffic, work stress, tight muscles, lack of sleep due to allergies, angry people, the news, or whatever it might be that causes you to take that big *sigh.* It’s nice to gaze at parts of the world that don’t revolve around you. It makes you feel less in control, which can be calming oddly enough. It lets you know you’re not in control of everything and you can’t help but wonder what you’ll be doing tomorrow, in a month, or in a year from now. I love that feeling, and here’s a little piece of what I saw as I sat on the dock at Lake Apopka.

Families take their turns walking out to the end of the pier to see what wildlife they can spot today.

What look like a brother and sister ride past with large grins, letting me know this is their favorite place to ride.

This bubbler created a large puddle on the sidewalk as kids discovered it's capabilities.