About
Some benches have a lovely view of a pond. Some face a row of utility boxes. This site helps you tell which is which before you walk there.
FishHawk Benches is a small, independent guide to the public benches along the sidewalks and trails of FishHawk Ranch in Lithia, Florida. It's a hobby project, made on foot with a phone.
How each bench is photographed
Every bench gets the same set of photos, taken from the same spots:
- The view from the seat, so you know what you'll be looking at.
- A couple of photos of the bench itself and its surroundings.
- A panorama taken from the bench, so you can look all the way around.
The phone records where and when each photo was taken and which way it was pointing. That's how the photos get grouped by bench, how each bench is pinned on the map, and how the site knows which direction the seat faces. Before any photo goes online, all of that hidden information is removed from the image file.
How the pros and cons are decided
Every bench is judged by the same simple rules, so they're easy to compare:
| When | It counts as |
|---|---|
| You can see water from the seat | Pro: Looks out over the water |
| The seat faces a road | Con: Faces the road instead of water or woods |
| It doesn't face a road, but one is close by | Con: A road runs close by |
| Trees shade it most of the day | Pro: Shaded by trees |
| Trees shade it for part of the day | Pro: Some shade from nearby trees |
| Nothing shades it | Con: No shade, so it gets hot at midday |
| A trash can is right beside it | Pro: Trash can right next to it |
| There's no road in sight or earshot | Pro: Quiet and away from traffic |
| The sun sets within your view for part of the year, and trees don't fully shade the seat | Pro: Faces the sunset (with the months it does) |
| The sun rises within your view for part of the year, and trees don't fully shade the seat | Pro: Faces the sunrise (with the months it does) |
Anything a rule doesn't cover, like flowers in a roundabout or a lamp post in the way, gets added by hand.
Sunrise and sunset notes
The compass direction of the view photo tells us which way the seat faces. From that and FishHawk's latitude, the site works out where the sun rises and sets on the horizon in each month. If that spot falls within your view from the seat (about 35° either side of straight ahead), the bench gets a note like "Sets in front of you, May to August". The sun swings north in summer and south in winter, which is why some benches only catch it part of the year.
It's worked out from geometry, not watched in person. Trees or rooftops across the water can hide the sun itself, which is why benches in full shade don't get it as a pro.
Things change
Trees grow, benches get moved, trash cans come and go. Each bench page shows the date it was added. If something has changed, or you know a bench that should be here, please say hello.