The Wandering Disciple

Bright colorful flowers can be found throughout Mabel's Secret Garden at the John & Mabel Ringling Mansion.  The sprawling estate is home to many colorful gardens planted by Mabel to provide more elegance to their winter home.  (Photo: June 14, 2009)

A chimpanzee grabs a snack under a shade tree at the Myombe Reserve at Busch Gardens Tampa.  One of the highlights of Busch Gardens, the Myombe Reserve is home to chimpanzees and gorillas.  (Photo: May 31, 2009)

A fire engine from the Sarasota County Fire Department sits outside Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota.  Be sure to follow my Boots and Badges page for more great public safety photos like this.  (Photo: March 12, 2016)

A full moon rises over Tampa Bay.  This was the view as we crossed over the Sunshine Skyway on the way home from last weekend's Tampa Bay Rays game.  While the picture doesn't do it justice, the moon on the horizon dwarfed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and we had to pull over at the rest area to grab a photo.  (Photo: August 19, 2016)

The flowing feathers of a snowy egret on full display at Ponce De Leon Park.  These flowing feathers are the breeding plumage for these birds found along the waterways in Florida.  (Photo: March 22, 2009)

Today the National Park Service celebrates its 100th year anniversary. On August 25, 1916, President Ulysses Grant signed the National Park Service Organic Act which gave birth to the Department of the Interior and our park system. Since then, the nation has grown to 59 national parks and over 413 locations governed by the National Park Service. Pictured here is rhe most visited park in the system, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Photo: June 8, 2016)

St Petersburg, Florida: The Tampa Bay Rays played host to the hottest team in the American League when the Texas Rangers came to town to kick of a three game series. The Rays struggled to contain the long ball as they dropped the opener 6-2 on Friday night. The Rangers broke the scoreless tie by scoring in the top of the fifth inning. Mitch Moreland opened the frame with a solo home run to put the Rangers on the board. Later in the inning, Ian Desmond delivered an RBI single to score Elvis Andrus to make it 2-0. The Rangers momentum carried over to the sixth inning where they pushed across three more runs. Adrian Beltre got things started with a solo home run to center. Jonathan Lucroy followed with a single and Moreland drew a walk to put two runners on the bases. Nomar Mazara then singled home Lucroy with a ground ball through the left side. Moreland later scored on a bases loaded walk by Jurickson Profar to increase the lead to 5-0. Beltre led off the seventh with an...