As someone who has a strong dislike of hot weather, experiencing a winter in Florida has been a rather strange one. I keep expecting it to be cold, but it's not. Outside is a balmy 80 F day with sunshine and a few clouds. I miss crisp, chilly days where I can wrap myself up in a warm sweater and scarf and drink a cup of hot tea without breaking into a sweat. But now that we're in the full swing of winter, it hasn't been that bad.

I've come to appreciate the beautiful weather and the calm days. Back in the Bay Area, a visit to the beach in winter would have been an insanely cold, grey affair complete with aching fingers, wind-bitten ears, and no thought of going anywhere near the water. Here, a walk along the beach is quite pleasant and relaxing. Even the water is warm enough to enjoy. 

We're heading down to the Keys pretty soon, and I have no doubt that there will be a few more beautiful beach days ahead of us. Wherever you are, I hope you're finding ways to stay warm and cozy. 

Florida has these amazing pockets of forests, called hammocks. They're densely packed with hardwood trees and ferns. Here are a few photos that I took in the Oak Hammock Trail on Merritt Island, which is near Cape Canaveral. There was a boardwalk built over the swampy parts, so we were able to get a good look at trees growing up out of the water. We saw plenty of zebra longwing butterflies, which is Florida's state butterfly. I'm looking forward to walking around more hammocks as we travel through Florida. 

We're on our way our next spot. But I thought I would share that I'm doing my best to take photos every day. Luckily the spot we were in had a sweet little pond full of reeds and lily pads. I've always enjoyed using creative, artistic lenses rather than the standard camera lenses. The first two photos were taken with an old Russian lens, the Helios 44. I love this lens since it's so easy to use in low light and gives a beautiful bokeh and velvety focus.

The second set of photos were taken with a Lensbaby Composer Pro with a Edge 80 optic, which you can find out more about here. I love this lens for its creativity, but there can be a bit of a learning curve in using it. Every time I put it on my camera, I have to get reacquainted with it. But it's so worth it for the blurry edgework and unique look. I'm planning on using these two lenses a lot more in my travels.