Here's my little niece

My little niece asked me why she wasn't in my picture blog. So here she is. It is somewhat difficult to get a photo of her without a phone blocking her face so I'll just show you what I've got! Grandma and I accompanied her on a blitzkrieg shopping trip after fueling her up on hot wings and cheese sticks at the Thirsty Turtle. She is not yet one of the tattooed people but she will be, I'm guessing! She's very trendy...And lots of people love her... mom and dad, three aunties and two uncles, two grandmas and a grandpa, cousins by the bunch, and even a doggie! ...not to mention salesladies!

Wekiwa Springs State Park and The Wekiva River

Wekiwa Springs is a popular swimming hole near Apopka and its clear river is one I have been eager to paddle for some time. I like to swim in the spring in fall and winter, when no one is around. You can imagine the riot of dipsters in the spring today!

I got my chance in the late afternoon, to explore the river on my return from south Florida. The Shuttle launch was cancelled and although I was disappointed I knew an opportunity to paddle the Wekiva River was at hand. The river is home to many kinds of fish including this sucker catfish which schooled with me while I floated. The trees are thick with airplants and they looked like river hair. I saw an alligator, two swallowtailed kites and lots of green herons. This little land tortoise was munching grass in the sand trail upon which I dragged the kayak down to the river.

The river has many fallen trees and is twisty and turny, requiring a bit of agility with one's paddle. The banks are thick with yellow north american lotus plants, sabal palms, old cypress trees with knobby knees, and maidenhair ferns perch atop half sunken oaks. For my friends who like to see bottom, this is one river which will not disappoint. The dragonflies traversed their watery highway. The river smelled like lotus blossoms and anise. I paddled up to the first bridge and although there were miles ahead of me, I had yet a long drive home so, I turned around. The swallow tailed kites were soaring over the bridge.

What delights me about this Park is that it is smack dab in the middle of lush suburbs. It is a hidden treasure. Forty two million gallons of clear water boil out of the spring each day and flow north into the St. John's river.

Sandhill Cranes in Pasco County

I found these photo among the last of my non-digital pictures which were just developed. These guys woke me up early one morning and I took these shots from the back of my truck. They were about six feet from me. It was a thrilling morning, needless to say...

Guess Who 's in The Shiny Suit?

I found this old photo in one of my albums and I think it is a hoot. That's the Phoenix Singers in Costa Rica, to give you a hint. The first person to guess gets a personalized CD. Mine, not his!

A Two River Sunday

What a nice day to paddle the Wacissa, and I also dropped in on The Aucilla for a short paddle. The seaweed farmer was out again today. He takes his seaweed to be sold in Fort Lauderdale. He puts six strands to a bunch and sells them by the bunch. The airboats were also out in full force. I counted ten different ones. Remind me not to go out there on Sundays! Blue spring was full of Sunday revelers and I joined the throng to cool off. The tattooed people (they will someday be running things, the tattooed people) were hogging the floating raft, however, so I could not tie up and snorkle over the spring.

I put in about ten thirty a.m. and paddled all the way down past what I think Peggy calls the Island. It was a spot in the center of the river with three smallish cypress trees. The river birds were out for mid-day kippers and the river smelled like turtles. I saw one monster turtle whose head was as big as an otter. I thought it was an otter at first. The wind was blowing downstream and the clouds were very puffy all day. I like puffy clouds. It was only two thirty when I finished my jaunt so I went down M59 to 98 and put in at Nuttall Rise on the lower Aucilla. I paddled up stream and then downstream under the bridge but I felt rather vulnerable and so made it a short trip, since I did not have a map and the Aucilla is very twisty and tricky. I'll have to get Irwin to take me sometime. He knows where the slave canal is.

This week is very busy with my new graduate English class beginning tomorrow. If I like it I will be going for the next six weeks. It might be too much work, though, we'll see. My friend Bonnie did a reading of my fairies Friday night while we were at Linda D's birthday party and my fairies want me to treat it like play and have a really fun time. I also have three opinion writing projects in addition to the usual work. Gulp!

The best part about my summer so far is that my son hasn't asked me for any money and I can save for a new roof. Keep up the good work, Nathan.

So tonight I'll have some spaghetti and watch the sun set from the old hammock. Then I'll knit and do some CEU coursework. I have also been playing with the computer and Audacity. I got a converter jack so I can run my good Shur mics into the computer. The recordings sound so much better! Maybe soon I'll have an MP3 site for my three fans. ...

Sandy The Sailor Dog

Here is a favorite image of my pop and his dog Sandy. Sandy was dog mistress of Singer Island for seven and a half years. She went sailing a lot and you can tell she was greatly loved!

Hazardous Duty at FPL

FPL crews found this gator in a pipe they were using! Ain't Florida grand?

Favorite photos of the progeny

This is Nathan asleep with Shadow.

Well, I broke down and bought a scanner that is compatible with the computer gear. Now I can scan whatever I want and put it on the blog. Watch out, Nathan! This photo is from about 1985. It is in the back of the Shelby Court duplex. I built Nathan a treehouse behind this duplex. At one point I ran one end of a board through the top rung of the ladder to hold it and then I nailed it up. Needless to say, I had to undo that little move since the ladder was permanently nailed to the treehouse!

Walking Near Sundown

Tonight on my walk I brought along my little Nikon coolpix885 which is what I use for all my photos now since I don't yet have a Canon Rebel. I wanted to photograph the wild places near my home which host many water birds. I saw some wood storks in the slew which runs south into the lower part of Lake Lafayette which is near my home, several days ago and I went out to see if they might still be there.

I didn't see them but I saw this great white heron. The area south of this photo was a sharply contested development for several years and of course, the developers won. All the land was once a dairy farm and when I first moved in I had only cows behind my house. They mooed alot and were nice. Then came the ostriches on the ostrich farm. I hated them. I fought the developers but the truth is anything would have been better than ostriches.

I went to the meetings and bargained with the developer but when it came right down to building, he didn't have a whole lot of input when the seven dollar an hour chainsaw guys came to clear land behind my house. I managed to yell enough to maintain a small easement between my home and the development which the developer had promised but really didn't give a flip about. Of course, they built five feet closer to the easement than they were permitted to build. They did leave a large area of wetlands undeveloped and these are photos of the area. It is a stone's throw from my home which is on the ridge south of these wetlands.

I like the quiet of wild nature the best, but since I don't have that around me I concentrate on what I can see that is wild. If I hold it in my consciousness and block out the rest, I can live in a space that is elemental and which soothes me. When it is quiet in nature I am really happy. Add a campfire and a few string instruments and it's heaven on earth.

Someday I am going to visit the Faulkland Islands and Greenland. The wind and the cold and the driving rain would suit me. I have my dad to thank for my love of wild nature. We cruised all over the North Channel in summer. And we sailed down Lake Huron in all kinds of weather.

Day's End

Some days don't seem very productive and the end of the day is a relief. Yesterday, even grocery shopping was frustrating. I did make a spinach lasagna to take to the Sunday Land Co-op dinner. But I spent three hours trying to make the old scanners run with the newer operating systems to no avail. And my new, one finger long, hard drive filled up in two minutes. It took three hours to load a new version of AntiVir on the Compaq. I have hardly played a note in several days. Music is the only thing that will save my sorry attitude...

I resent having to upgrade stuff constantly. I feel like a consumer puppet. Plus, my technical skills are very hard won. I even just discovered that all the lawnmowers that stopped running probably just needed spark plugs! But hey, I've still got the one I poured gasoline into the oil compartment of. I can fix it now that I've discovered spark plugs. Where is JonP when you need him?

Happy Father's Day

Happy father's day to my dad. He is receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross in this picture for his 47 missions in WWII as a B-24 pilot and squadron leader. His service in WWII helped to defeat the Nazis and end the war. I am grateful for the freedoms I still have as a result of his service. Click on the title and see where he hangs out on the internet.

100% Employment!!!!!

Congratulations to the tall fellas on Hillview Road! At 6'4" and 6'5", the tallest guys at Hillview Terrace! Formidable....

North American Lotus: Nelumbo lutea

The North American lotus is abundant on Lake Munson at this moment.

Before the storm

Tropical Depression One: Alberto

Tropical depression one the first week of hurricane season has an ominous sound. The freakin' thing is coming this way, too. Maybe it will just be rain.

While dining (not "working" on my dinner, Mr. 20 year old waiter, I'm not a steamshovel) with my oldest friend Dorothy (she's 85 1/2) this evening she informed me that we are due for our first storm of the season. Oh happy day! I can hardly wait!

Hurricane season causes me increasing anxiety every year worrying about my worthless home-owners policy: which doesn't cover any storm related damage if there is a tropical depression or worse anywhere in the state within 72 hours. I just hope I get through every year without another roof repair! I rely on Dorothy to keep me up with the latest news since she is wired for cable TV and I won't spend my hard earned money on such nonsense. I checked her lanterns and need to replace the batteries and finish our storm plan! Here is a look at my favorite hurricane site.