In The Deep Shade

Cloudland Canyon

2010-12-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

My friend Patty and I decided to take advantage of the Labor Day Weekend this year and go camping. She lives in Atlanta so I drove up there and then we drove up to Cloudland Canyon, about 2 hours NW of Atlanta.

Driving up, the highways were bordered by fall colors. All the tree leaves were turning and it was beautiful scenery!

We camped in the RV/Tent campground. This was a last minute trip and it was easier to shove all our supplies in the car rather than hike them in to the tents only campground. Here is my little tent on our campsite.

Sadly neither of us were in Girl Scouts and had issues starting a fire. Our neighbor helped us out and we managed to heat up our hot dogs and veggies and then create a campfire to stay warm by for the night.

The next morning we woke up and found the trail that leads into the canyon.

Along the trail, we found this baby cave. The rock on top is placed so perfectly it almost looks manmade but it's not (I assume!).

While hiking, we amused ourselves by taking fake pictures. This is me rock climbing....12 inches off of the ground...

Here is Patty holding up this GIANT BOULDER. It was huuuuuge. This was at the top of the path before the bajillion stairs that we walked down, not anticipating the return trip.

Down in the ravine are two waterfalls, with a stream leading from one to the other. There are large rocks strewn along the creek bed. I think as a naturally short person, I automatically climb onto anything that will make me taller. I was standing on the chair rungs of a bar stool last night talking to someone and they remarked on it. I think I'm like a goat. If goats have the opportunity to climb on something, they will.

Here is Patty in front of the first waterfall. Both waterfalls were pretty small considering the amount of space it looked like they could take. I'm guessing Georgia has had just as little rainfall as Florida this fall and hopefully they are bigger in the summer.

This rock had a perfect seat just waiting for me!

We hiked the two miles to the end of the trail and checked out the cave that Patty read about on the internet. Apparently the park does not advertise this cave but it is popular among spelunkers. We asked the park ranger and they gave us directions, letting us know that we will be able to tell we're near the cave by the cold blast of air that hits you as you get close. And it was true! It was freezing air coming out of the cave. I put my jacket on because it was probably a 10-20 degree different in temperature. .

This is looking from the cave back out the opening. There wasn't much to see beyond mud and rocks and we were on a tight schedule to get back to the campground before dark so we left. Hiking back on the trail, we started to get tired and were dreading the ridiculous stair climb back up to the top. Luckily we came across a couple of hikers that we had talked to earlier in the day. They were a nice older couple from the same town as Patty and they offered us a ride since they were staying in the same campground.

Relieved we didn't have to hike the stairs, we got back to the campground and relaxed in our hammocks, read, and snacked. Then we started our dinner and camp fires and were much more successful this time. We had a new neighbor whose "fire starter" consisted of a propane tank with a nozzle. He helped us out and we were set for the night! We made soup over the fire along with roasted sweet potatoes, zuchinni and corn.

Patty was in charge of the fire and I was in charge of the marshmallows :-P Plus it was super cold at night so the fire was essential!

The next morning we got a grill fire going all by ourselves and cooked up an awesome breakfast of eggs in a basket with melted cheese on top. Yummmm

Then we packed up and drove back. We picked up some delicious apples on the way back from an old man on the side of the road. Fresh from Ellajay (sp?), GA where all their apples seem to come from.

Big Cypress

2010-12-12T06:54:00.000-08:00

I grew up knowing the Everglades was nearby and I think all elementary students go on a fieldtrip with the requisite airboat ride through sawgrass, but about 5 years ago I went to one of the Water Conservation Areas as part of my internship with NRCS.

We went on an airboat with an FWC employee and a professor from UF. The FWC employee was going to different tree islands to check the tapes on motion sensor cameras that track large animals, like panthers, as they migrate from island to island. My supervisor and I were there to assist the professor in collecting a certain species of water lily that grows near the islands for her research on phosphorous uptake.

That trip was one of the coolest things I had experienced at that point in my life. The airboat ride (not a touristy "lets scare the gators thing"), wading in the water, and exploring the tree islands were so unlike anything I had done before and had never imagined I could.

After that day, I decided I had to get a job in the Everglades. That's something I'm still working on, since I don't have a masters degree yet and am not willing to compromise my health insurance for a seasonal field work job. However now that the park ranger programs have opened up for the winter season, I am trying to go to the parks every time I visit that area.

So this past Thanksgiving weekend, I made sure to reserve spots for my dad and I on a ranger led swamp walk in Big Cypress National Preserve. The trail we took started out right across Tamiami Trail from the Oasis Visitor's Center.

Here are my dad's shoes as he's trying to avoid the mud. The park ranger explained that we had to walk in the muddy trail or else we would all trample the surrounding plants.

Another picture of my dad in front of me. You can see the trampled, muddy trail.

As we got closer to the cypress strand, the water got deeper and cooler as it washed out the mud in our shoes and slowly soaked our pants.

This is what the cypress looked like when we entered the trail, small and thin. You can see the strand of cypress in the background. Those trees are taller and thicker, not because they're older but because the elevation is lower there and there is water for longer periods of time. The stunted cypress in the foreground are (probably) the same age as the larger ones but their ground dries out faster in periods of no rain, so they don't grow as quickly.

This is a picture of a bromeliad on a cypress trunk. These airplants, also called epiphytes, attach themselves to the trunks of trees. They get all of their nutrients from the air and the rain.

Look at all those hairy bromeliads!

Partially submerged in the water is lemon bacopa. There is a purple flower, but I don't remember if that belongs to the bacopa or another plant. Lemon bacopa smells like eucalyptus or menthol when you crush it up.

It was really peaceful in the cypress stand. Most of the leaves have already fallen off for winter, but the light came down through the clouds and branches.

The water became deeper as we slowly felt our way further into the swamp.

The water is a dark tea color from the tannins in the cypress leaves, so it was hard to see what you were going to walk into next. Here is my dad stepping up out of the water and over a log.

We eventually ended up a gator hole. This is a large pond that is deeper than the surrounding areas. There was a juvenile gator basking on a log and some egrets in the background. Sadly I am too short and didn't get a good picture of it. Also, we were all standing on the edge of the pond, being quiet so that we didn't scare away any animals. You can see alligator flag in the foreground of this picture. The park ranger explained that this aquatic plant lives in deeper water than the rest of the prairie, and the hunters used it to know when they would come across a gator hole, hence the name "alligator flag".

After the gator hole, we looped around and came out to the drier prairie. We took the same trail back to the road and rinsed off at the visitor's center. This was a great experience, but not for those squeamish about getting muddy or wet or close to gators/spiders/etc.

The change of clothes recommended when you reserve your spot was definitely needed!

Chassahowizka River

2010-12-06T18:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my friend Ashley and I went on a kayak trip to the Chassahowitzka River. This is a spring-fed river that empties into the Gulf of Mexico and is tidally influenced. Our trip happened to be during low tide. There are the 7 Sisters Springs located near the boat ramp.

The water in this section was maybe 6-12 inches deep with springs bubbling up through circular solution holes in the riverbed. I'd first seen pictures of this when my friend came here a few years ago and I've been determined to come back ever since!

Going into the main channel, the river is wide, shallow and clear! It's surrounded by coastal forest. The tree that really stood out were the cabbage palms lining the banks of the river.

That circle of green up there in the bald tree is a bunch of mistletoe.
We paddled up some of the side channels that feed the river. Looking at a map, I saw that the side channels start with a spring and that eventually flows into the river.
There was a strong wind blowing from the cold front that came in that day so it was nice to get into a smaller side channel, protected from the chilly air.

The side channels were also narrower and shallower.

We stopped on a bank of the main river for "lunch and bushes".

The second side channel was slightly deeper and clearer than the first.
It passed through two springs. They were very blue, but the water was cloudy (total dissolved solids?)

We eventually reached a point in the creek that was too shallow to continue paddling. We pulled the boats over and continued on foot, walking through 4 inches of crystal clear water over white sand. There were trees shading overhead, filtering the light.

Even though it just looks like a sand path in the picture above, it's not. It's a creek! There is an egret in the background.

You can see the line of blue in the middle of the picture. That is "The Crack". This is the spring feeding the channel we paddled up. It's literally a crack in the limestone. The water surrounding the crack is only a few feet deep. There's a rope swing hanging over the crack so it must be higher water at different tides. Still not deep enough for me to jump into... I really wanted to swim in it, but didn't because of the strong and cold wind in the main river that we had to paddle to return.

Heading back to the river, some other boaters let us know about three manatees in a nearby cove, so we checked it out. At first we couldn't find them but soon they started coming up and nosing our boats.

Ashley and my faces were in permanent "OMG THIS IS AWESOME" expressions.

My camera is an underwater camera so we stuck it in the water and just shot blindly to see if we could get pics of the manatees.

The manatees were huuuuge! They were the length of our kayaks and much larger in width. The continued to swim up to and under our boats, probably rubbing their backs. The second time one of them stuck her nose next to my hand, I just reached down and scratched her head.

There was a boat with a family in this area and the manatees headed over there. The kids on the boat reached over and stuck their hands in the water to pet the manatees. Next thing I know, the baby manatee is on it's back with it's belly and flippers in the air, getting a belly rub from the kids! I've swam with manatees once and I've seen them one other time so I haven't had that much interaction with them. Ashley had never seen manatees at all so we were both in awe the entire time.

I highly recommend this river and plan on coming back in warmer weather to swim. I also want to see the dolphins that are known to come to the river to feed.

We went with Lars from Adventure Outpost. He was extremely knowledgeable and shared interesting facts about the environment. I plan on going on more of his trips to explore the rest of Florida's springs!

Juniper Prairie Wilderness

2010-02-25T16:29:00.000-08:00

This past October, my friend, Kristen, and I hiked a portion of the Florida Trail in the Ocala National Forest. It's called the Juniper Prairie Wilderness. I found a set of photos from somebody else hiking it on Google Earth and thought it looked like a nice intro to long distance hiking in Florida. Originally we thought it would be cool to hike in, camp overnight and hike out the next day but we're both too poor/cheap to invest in some camping gear at the moment.

I researched it and found a useful intro and map to the area on the Florida Trail Association's website. I'm horrible at getting up early so by the time we drove the 1.5 hours to Juniper Springs to park at the trailhead, it was probably around 9:30. The trail starts out in a scrub ecosystem with a lot of thick bushes. We were a little nervous at first because it was the start of hunting season and we don't own any "hunters orange" clothing. And by we, I really mean me because I am a worywart. So we put on our orange and blue Gators hats and wore bright clothing. Another possible danger in the back of my mind would be the encounter of a black bear. I doubted we would see any, but if we did, then what?!

The trail dips in elevation and enters a burnt out pine forest. Which is where we saw the above sign. It reads "THIS PORTION OF TRAIL PASSES THROUGH A WILDERNESS AREA. THEREFORE, IT IS MAINTAINED TO A LESSER STANDARD. VISITORS MUST ASSUME POSSIBLE RISKS SUCH AS FALLING TREES, LIMBS, LACK OF VEHICLE ACCESS, ANIMAL.." and then it cut off b/c the rest burned off in the fire. Woooonderful.

This area of the trail was actually the most beautiful because of the contrast between the darkened pine silhouettes against the bright blue sky.Also the vast expanse of saw palmetto made it possible to get a good shot of area.

A couple of streams crossed the trail and one of them had a log and rope to help you cross, I assume when the water is higher. After this, the habitat changes a bit into more trees and a couple of times it took us a few seconds to figure out which was trail b/c the area was so open. Luckily this trail was well maintained and we just followed the orange triangles.

Eventually we came to a pond. The map from the FTA's website was incredibly handy, but it only has one pond listed on it. We came to this pond maybe 40 minutes into our hike and according to the map Hidden Pond is supposed to be about 6 miles in from the trailhead. So we scratched our heads, looked at the map some more and kept walking. After passing numerous ponds that looked exactly like this one, we met another hiker who assured us that we would know Hidden Pond when we saw it because it was significantly larger.

After asking "is this it?" to each other multiple times, we finally came upon Hidden Pond. We only know it was Hidden Pond because of the tents we saw set up across the way. We ran into another set of hikers asking us if this was Hidden Pond and when we confirmed it probably was, their faces showed the disappoint that I was feeling. The only difference between this pond and the probably 10 others we passed on the way here was a little pathway worn into the bank from so many people entering it. It was crystal clear (indicating a spring?), but you could only tell that because the erosion had also taken away the aquatic plants growing on the bottom. So who knows whether the other ponds were spring fed. I had read multiple websites that praised this trail for the amount of swimming opportunities. While it was clear water, the dark bottom of the rest of the pond made it hard to see through and I don't think you could pay me to go swimming in that. I am a Floridian to the core and have a healthy fear of alligators, so no thanks.

After eating some dried fruit and a water break, we headed back. I found out that a 12 mile hike is most definitely not a good beginner hike to do in one day and I will spare you the whining that ensued. Kristen is most definitely a true friend for not only putting up with my complaining but for encouraging me those last 4 miles. 8 miles round trip is going to be my limit until I build up some more leg muscle.

Muscle-less legs aside, this trail had beautiful scenery, was well maintained and I would consider coming back. My one real complaint was the lack of detail on the grab and go map from the FTAs website. If you park at the Juniper Springs trail head, the park rangers require you to sign in and out with them, which I appreciated. However they did not have any maps or information about the trail beyond a large Florida Trail map that you could buy for $3. Now we've already established I'm relatively thrifty, but $3 for a map that is essentially just a large ortho map of Florida with a line denoting the Florida Trail and with absolutely no detail about the trail I plan on hiking seems absurd to me.

What is the proverb? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure? Park Service might want to invest in some free maps for the trail before they end up sending a search party for someone who isn't prepared.

Cognito Farms

2010-01-24T16:57:00.000-08:00

Today I visited Cognito Farm in Starke, FL. They have started doing Farm Tours once a month when the farm is open for buying their various products. A few months ago I bought their eggs at the downtown farmer's market. They offer dairy products, eggs, chicken, beef cuts and pork cuts.
The tour was given by Sam Williams, one of the owners, and she started out by asking how many of us had seen Food Inc, read The Omnivore's Dilemma or Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Excitedly nodding my head, I listened to her explain their principles and how the farm is run. If you've seen the movie or read any of those books, you'll be familiar with Joel Salatan's ideas about being a "grass farmer" and keeping in harmony with natural processes. This photo is of the chickens. In the background to the right, you can see a covered wagon. This is their " Chickabago" where the chickens roost for the night.

After the farm tour, I picked up the broiler chicken I had ordered from them. I've never cooked a whole chicken so I roasted it using instructions from "A New Way to Cook" by Sally Scheider. I was worried I would burn it like I did the roasted paprika potatoes I also prepared, but the chicken was fantastic! Super moist and tender! I had originally ordered a medium sized chicken but they only had smalls (3-4 lbs) once they were done harvesting. Even with a small, I have a huge plate full of leftover chicken and as soon as I can pick up some onions this week, I am going to make chicken stock/soup! Also something I've never done. I also made some brussel sprouts I bought at the farmer's market last week and highly recommend the recipe by Heidi Swanson.
This is a picture of their pig area. After the amazing eggs and chicken, I would like to try their pork and beef products. All of the animals looked healthy and happy. I was also impressed by how clean the property was and the facilities for processing chickens. Since I've started working in the country, I see how easily people acquire junk and trash in yards/fields and there was none of that here!
I especially liked the stream running through the property!

2010-01-08T20:31:00.000-08:00

Now that the weather is officially too cold to go swimming in the springs, I am finally getting around to posting about our visit to Blue Springs in High Springs, FL. We wanted to go to Poe Springs, next door but I was put off by the $5/person entry fee. Little did I know that Blue Springs is $10/person!!! By the time we got there, I decided to just suck it up and pay.

We went while it was still hot out but once summer was officially over to beat the crowds. There were a few families barbequing and a steady stream of kids jumping off the platform.
The park contains one large spring that is the main attraction and two smaller springs on either side. The two smaller springs were off to the sides and there was nobody swimming in them. Each one had a floating dock you could walk onto but were surrounded by forests. The seclusion imparted a magical quality to them so that you could imagine what all of Florida's springs looked like at one time (before the diving docks and fake sand beaches and sunny grassy lawns leading down to the retention walls).

One was full of mosquitoes but the other one was perfect. It was the kind of place that Ponce de Leon would have been satisfied with finding. However my dad has instilled a more than healthy fear of alligators in me and the lack of people made me wimp out in going swimming in it by myself.....So after I annoyed Jason with my indecisiveness on swimming, we headed back to the main spring.

This one has a large opening and the water flows out to the Santa Fe River in an extremely long and windy spring run. We walked along it on the boardwalk but didn't make it out to the river b/c the boardwalk was so crooked and dilapidated, we worried it would fall apart!
So then we got in the water and walked along a trail that wound through the aquatic grasses down the spring run. I'm not sure what came first, people walking and the disturbance keeping out the grasses or if the park cut the grass out so that people could walk on it.

After trying to snorkel a bit (and having my mask fog up Again!), we got out of the water to eat lunch. The park has a nice (fake) grassy area leading down to nice (fake) sandy beach. We had dumped all our gear on a picnic bench in the sun and it felt nice to warm off from the cold water while we ate our sandwhiches. Mmm Publix subs!

Some of the sandwich crumbs fell on the table and it didn't take long for a line of ants to find it. We watched as they swarmed all over the area and we had fun playing with them. The ants spent a couple of minutes intent on transporting every piece of crumb away but as soon as we killed one of the ants, they all stopped what they were doing and departed the area!

After that, we made it down to the beach but as soon as we stuck our feet in, we couldn't bring ourselves to brace the cold water again. So we packed up and left.

Ichetucknee

2009-11-15T16:48:00.000-08:00

The Ichetucknee River must be my favorite place ever.
My parents were driving through town in the beginning of October, so I took advantage of the no summer crowds and the still hot weather and brought them there. They had already been years ago when I first started UF, but this time I had a secret weapon. Floating lounge chairs!

All those years I was using circular inner tubes when I could have been relaxing on these lounge floats! Well the tube rental place only had two left so I graciously let the old folks have them while I took a clear inner tube.

I guess the only way to really get the river to yourself is to go during the week. There were still some people but it was finally quiet enough for us to see animals! First we saw turkeys as we were driving into the park. There's a really nice stretch of woods leading up to the pay station that was full of fall wildflowers. Weaving their way through were some wild turkeys but I didn't have access to my camera.

I tried to keep my voice down as I excitedly pointed to the wild pigs rooting around by the shoreline. My parents seemed to have conked out on the incredibly comfortable lounge floats and I ended up yelling to get their attention. Surprisingly this didn't phase the pigs. They were so intent on what they were feeding on that they didn't even look up as we floated by, less than 4 feet away. There were two but were blocked by foliage.
Next up was an entire family of OTTERS!!!! I was so excited that I spotted these and this time my parents were on the alert and saw them too. Sadly we floated by much too fast for me to get a focused picture. The only other time I saw otters was when they were swimming upstream and they were pointed out to me by someone else.
Of course we saw the obligatory turtles, herons, and fishies.

Next up is my review of Blue Springs Park in Gilchrist county and my 12 mile hike in the Ocala National Forest!

Fruit and Spice Park

2009-07-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

This is a photo of a lotus flower (that lost a lot of it's petals) at the herb garden in the Fruit and Spice Park. My parents and I visited it a couple of weeks ago while I was visiting South Florida. It's located in an area of Homestead called The Redlands, named for the red soil. This is the part of Florida that grows most of our food.

We always take US 27 down and the scenery on the drive there is distinctly South Florida.
First we have a stop off at the eastern edge of the Everglades.
Between this view and the road is a dike and a canal where they got the fill dirt to build the dike. For a long time, anything beyond the road was not visible because of all the Malelueca trees and Australian Pines that were growing. These are two extremely invasive plants to South Florida and keeping in tradition with most invasives, were originally brought here with a engineering purpose.

Maleluecas were brought in by the Army Corps of Engineers in order to drain the Everglades and many years later they realized they were sucking up all the fresh drinking water! Australian pines came in from developers to create shade and wind breaks but have fast outcompeted the native plants around them. They can't withstand hurricanes like native trees can and create millions of dollars of damage. While interning for the NRCS one summer in West Palm Beach, I went out with an engineer as he surveyed damage done by the recent hurricanes specifically by Australian Pines in a suburban neighborhood as they fell on houses, powerlines and canals.
So now more millions of dollars is being spent on trying to get rid of these invasives and today large stretches of the roadway show the dead tree trunks.
These two pictures were taken on the same day (as evidenced by the same car in front of us). There are still some patches of the old forested area alongside the road, but most of it looks dead and barren and extremely out of place in a land where everything is lush and green and overgrown.

Finally at the park, we missed the tour so we had cuban sandwiches down the road and came back just in time for the next tour. It was so hot and humid out that my mom initially didn't want to come and tried to get me to save the trip for winter, but I insisted and in the end she agreed it was a great experience. However between the uncomfortable heat and wanting to pay attention to the tour guide, I forgot to take any pictures. We rode in a tram and would stop at different spots to get out and try any fruit that was in season. Their one rule is not to pick any fruit off the trees, so we mostly looked for the freshly fallen fruit on the ground. They had tons of jackfruit trees with humongous fruits, but the park employee claimed they didn't have the right kind of solution to cut the fruit open.

The jackfruit produces a rubbery liquid when cut open and requires the right cutting utensils. I don't understand why a park that had more than 10 trees of this fruit and specializes in letting the public taste exotic fruits didn't have the equipment. Instead we tried Dragonfruit, Cashew fruit, and many more that I forgot the names of.

We were stopped at one tree eating Hog Plums, with liquid squirting all over as we bit into them. The tour guide announces that they're related to Mangos and I instantly drop my plum. I am allergic to mangos so I immediately wash my hands, face and mouth off with water. Luckily the only reaction I got were some chapped lips that went away within 2 weeks.

I also got to try Stevia, which is a natural sugar substitute. I put a leaf of it in my mouth, along with a leaf of chocolate mint and the combined flavors were better than candy! The park has fruit trees from all over the world and it seems that there is always something in season. I can't wait until we can go again and try different things!

When we stopped along the dike to look at the glades, there were giant grasshoppers all over the place. They kept moving and made it difficult to take a picture so my dad picked one up for me.
Here is a photo of my parents at a photo-op the park had set up. Of course my dad went straight for the tropical Chiquita Banana woman. After the park we stopped at Robert is Here fruit stand as it seemed to be a popular tourist attraction. However everything was overpriced, the honey was "flavored" with extremely unnatural flavorings (we're not talking the usual tupelo or wildflower honey, this was ginger honey and green tea honey). There were a million people in line for tropical fruit milkshakes so we left after buying a watermelon and an eggfruit.
My dad bought the eggfruit or canistel and we tried it the next night. The inside of the fruit is yellow and creamy like an egg yolk that has been boiled hard. The taste is sweet and reminiscient of a mamey. Mostly what I remember was the texture as it was so unusual.

Work Travels

2009-07-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

Lately I've gone to some interesting places for work:
Steinhatchee is a small fishing village on the coast, northwest of Gainesville. Everytime I find out I have work to do here, I look forward to it. No matter where you look, you find a scenic view of the Steinhatchee River or coastal homes that remind me of Key West and Cedar Key.
These brightly painted townhomes seem to be more for the weekend tourists.
There was a good mix of tourist homes and homes like this wooden one that fits in better with the scenery and looks a bit more authentic. I love all the tin roofs.

Next up is White Springs, located on the northern portion of the Suwannee River, which seems to be the main attraction of the town. The actual downtown stores appear abandoned but the victorian homes are well kept and there's a kayak outfitter and a large State Park that probably get good traffic from the outdoor enthusiasts attracted for the river. I like to stop at the old Sulfur Springs and look at the old pictures from when it operated as a spa.
This is me being reflected from the glass case as I was trying to take a picture of what the spring house looked like back in the....late 1800s?
This is what the spring house looks like now. There's only one level to walk on and this is looking out to the river.

Next town is Yankeetown, located southwest of here on the Withlacoochie River. I don't know too much about this place but during lunch one day I discovered a park with trails to stretch my legs after driving for so long.
The environment here is mostly coastal grasses with cabbage palms. The paths are extremely well maintained and clearly marked with a map that you can take with you at the trailhead.

Coming back from Yankeetown is this curiuos piece of land. I've always spotted it on my drives but never noticed the gate open until this time. I had an intern with me so we decided to drive up and see if it was a park.
Not a park but open to the public. Driving in, I got a better look at what I had been seeing in a blur driving fast on the road,
There was no information about what the structures were for or anything besides a paper listing the development opportunities. Once I had internet access, I looked it up and it has an odd but interesting history. I guess it's currently used as grounds for weddings/corporate events/etc but the owner is a developer and wants to sell it.
Driving around the grounds was surreal because of how well manicured and landscaped the place was, but absolutely deserted. Plus it's in the middle of nowhere on highway 19 in between Inglis and Chiefland. I tried to get a picture of the stream connecting the big structure to this lake and the features on the backside of the big fountain but my camera died right after this picture.

Boston

2009-06-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I decided to visit my friend, Ana, in Boston.
I was getting a bit tired of Gainesville and wanted to see an old friend, eat some good food and experience weather cooler than 90 F.
I saw this on a building as we were walking to the Southend Farmer's Market. I had to take a picture for Jason because he loves the movie, Good Will Hunting. If you can't read the photo, it says "How you like them apples?" which is the main phrase I remember from the movie. there's some weird bowl (?) in the middle of the graffiti with "thee" (again?) thrown in there. Not really sure...

The first night, we ate at an Iranian restaurant in Cambridge. I had rice with barberries, orange peel and something else that sounded awesome with a chicken kabob on top. The barberries were good. I was worried they'd be like cranberries, but they were smaller and sweeter. Ana had lamb with a pomegranate/walnut sauce, which was also very good. The next day we had lunch after our shift at the place she volunteers every week: Community Servings. This organization is so inspiring. They prepare meals for people with AIDS and other diseases who are homebound and can't cook for themselves. That night we had dinner at Ana's friend's house, potluck style, and I met a lot of great people. The next day we had dim sum in Chinatown, which is the photo above. I love dim sum so much, it's ridiculous. That night we went back to Chinatown for a family dinner with Ana's extended family in Boston. I was excited because I've never had a meal like that before. There must have been 9 courses: soup, an entire fish, an entire chicken, a huge plate of lobster, a seafood mix served in a taro bread ring, sauteed greens, snap beans with beef, something that i can't remember and finished up with red bean soup for dessert.
While in Chinatown, we stopped in a grocery store to pick up candies and I was amazed when I saw their seafood section. I grew up in South Florida, I know what lobsters in a tank look like. But I've never seen a fish aquarium with live fish swimming around right underneath the iced dead fish on display!@!!! what the heck? It was cool but when I thought about it too long, it creeped me out a tiny bit.

After that, we headed over to Boston Commons and crossed over into this park, that I don't know the name of. I saw the duck statue and had to get a picture of me on it. This is when my quest to take pictures on top of bronze animals became official.
The ducks reminded me too much of this photo taken two (three?) years ago on my last trip to Boston. I took it because my friend and I were on a historic tour following a red line around the city and I got distracted when I saw this donkey. I knew i needed a photo on it! It was much easier to sit on than the duck, but I guess that should be obvious. It's funny b/c my hair now is the same length as it was back then, but I've had it much shorter in the meantime.
These are some plants that were in the same park as the ducks. I don't know what they are, but they were gigantic! While in Boston, we also hit up the Cambridge River Festival and some shopping along Newbury Street and downtown. The temperature never really went above 70 and it was awesome!

Manatee Springs

2009-06-22T17:27:00.001-07:00

This past weekend Jason and I went to Manatee Springs, in Chiefland. Between spending parts of my work days in the recent heat index of 110 F and hearing my coworker talk about her plans for Silver Glen Springs in the Ocala National Forest, I decided a spring was the perfect way to spend our Saturday.
One side of the spring is filled with cypress trees and the other is a retaining wall with sets of stairs leading into the water. The spring flows into the spring run and eventually into the Suwannee River.
So yes, it was ridiculously hot outside and yes I've been in springs before, but lets face it...there's a reason these scuba divers are wearing wet suits. When I jumped in the water (slowly going down the steps turned out to be too painful) I think my body temporarily shut down from the freezing cold water. We also didn't realize until after that, that the steps we took into the water were the closest to the spring opening and the other steps were further away and a tiny bit warmer.

When visiting any spring, I think it's a necessity to bring a mask and snorkel. Even though the water is clear, it's usually so deep that you can't see the cave openings, plants and animals from up on the surface. The only downside was that not only my mask but my camera kept fogging up because of the extreme cold water! Although my snorkel masks always fog up no matter where I am. I don't have the right saliva mixture or something.

After eating our Publix subs, cooling ourselves off in the water, warming ourselves up in the water by swimming, we finally dried off and put our stuff in the car. Before leaving, we took a walk on the boardwalk that leads from the spring through a riverine cypress ecosystem and out to the Suwannee River where boaters can dock their boats while they visit the springs. This is a picture of the river. Everytime I see it, I'm always surprised by how wide the river is!
This sign was at the beginning of the boardwalk. I'm the last person to be labeled a squirrel feeder, but felt it was necessary to take a picture anyway. I was in Boston last weekend (post to come soon) and was astonished at two young girls in the park feeding squirrels peanuts while their parents looked on lovingly. I made an angry comment about this to Ana and was probably a little too loud b/c the family looked up at me in surprise. Rabies anyone?

Finally, a picture of the button bush in bloom that was among the cypress trees on the boardwalk.
Overall Manatee Springs was a great park. They had nice grassy areas to lay out the towels and picnic. It was a tiny bit too crowded for me, but I think any spring during the summer will be over popular. I have to say even with the large amount of people, it was all families and we weren't worried about leaving our stuff on the grass unattended while we swam.

Wildflowers

2009-06-20T20:19:00.001-07:00

For the past two months, my drives through the country have had the best roadside scenery: Wildflowers everywhere!

The purple flowers were out first, along with pink/magenta, yellow and white.

The yellow are some variety of Coreopsis, Florida's state flower. These have stayed the longest out of all the flowers, lasting into our summer and enduring the heat indexes of 100+ that we've been experiencing lately.
This picture was taken a few days ago on the road between Bell and Branford. Middle of the day so the colors were faded. Actually most of my photos taken while working are like this.
This last picture was taken a few months ago in Brooksville. I think someone gave up on their orange grove, letting the oranges stay on the tree and wildflowers take over the ground.

Why I love South Florida:

2009-05-13T17:08:00.000-07:00

The other weekend when I went to visit my family in South Florida, our neighbor told us about this orchid nursery in Homestead, RF Orchids. and we had to go. We didn't plan on buying orchids, but the grounds behind the nursery were amaaazing. The landscaping was inspiring and everywhere you looked were perfect specimens of tropical plants.

We arrived just in time for the tour and saw this pond that the owner built out of a small sinkhole. I think he had a sinkhole originally and made it bigger, stocked it with catfish, sharks and a baby alligator that seems to be replaced every time it grows too big and poses a threat to the visitors. I'm not sure how I feel about using the alligator like that and then getting rid of it when it's no longer useful... but my dad and I were instantly in love and wanted to dive in and swim around. Of course we were on a tour and didn't do that, but I'm sure had it been a friend's pond, my dad wouldn't have hesitated.
The owner added two waterfalls that blend in naturally with the rest of the structure. The tour guide told us that the water is natural springwater. I am surprised that it is so clear like North Florida Springs. Obviously I know nothing about geology but I wasn't expecting water from the Biscayne Aquifer to be so clear!
At the end of the tour, you end up in the greenhouses and can look at all the different orchids, and smell them too! Obviously at this point you're supposed to buy orchids, but I'm pretty sure I would kill it immediately (I am still amazed my african violet is blooming again). While we were looking around an employee came around and offered us cups of iced passionfruit juice.

For the past three months, I would get random phone calls from either my dad or my sister telling me they were at our neighbors visiting the cockatoos and they would gush on about how amazing these birds were. Then they would put the phone up to the birds and I would sit there and hear garbled noise. Feigning interest I always quickly found a reason to hang up. I couldn't understand why they were so obsessed with these birds. We've always been a furry/cuddly pet family, not highly excited by birds or reptiles.
But the last time I was home I got to meet them and boy are they fun! I don't remember this one's name, but he has peach underneath his little crest of feathers and loves it when you reach into his feathers and kind of massage his scalp. I was shocked at how friendly and affectionate these birds were. As soon as I paid attention to the other one, which was plain white, this salmon colored one would start flapping his wings and shrieking because he wanted attention and petting!
Here is Kokomo. I only remember his name because it was all my sister could talk about for practically a week straight. Also, he likes to bounce up and down repetively and sing "Kookooomoooooo". It's pretty adorable. Apparently Kokomo isn't allowed to sit on the Frangipani tree like the salmon colored one because he kept picking at the bark with his beak. So he sat on the hula hoop hanging from the tree. As soon as I would walk by the hoop, he'd hold out one of his feet (claws?) in the direction of my arm. I moved my arm closer to see if he'd come on it and he instantly did! Then he would walk all over my arm, up onto my shoulder, switch onto another arm a couple times.
When it was time to go, he wouldn't leave my arm and get back on the hula hoop! I had to give him to his owner who had a little more control over the bird.
This statue was sitting at the entrance to the orchid house, guarding over a small koi pond. I liked how they placed some fresh orchicds in his arms.

Lunch for this entire week:

2009-04-19T14:44:00.001-07:00

I just made this Orzo recipe by Giada De Laurentis:

It's really good and i know it will be a great lunch to take out in the field where I don't have to worry about refrigeration. The only things I will change next time I make it is first substitute green onions for the red onion. I am eating it right now and the red onion is definitely the strongest flavor in here. Next I will cut the grape tomatoes in quarters instead of halves. That way the tomato in each bite ratio will be balanced. Finally I would probably add in feta cheese or some equivalent. Between the bland chickpeas and orzo, it could use some more punch of flavor.

Orzo Salad
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups orzo
1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups red and yellow teardrop tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
About 3/4 cup Red Wine Vinaigrette, recipe follows
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Pour the broth into a heavy large saucepan. Cover the pan and bring the broth to a boil over high heat. Stir in the orzo. Cover partially and cook until the orzo is tender but still firm to the bite, stirring frequently, about 7 minutes. Drain the orzo through a strainer. Transfer the orzo to a large wide bowl and toss until the orzo cools slightly. Set aside to cool completely.

Toss the orzo with the beans, tomatoes, onion, basil, mint, and enough vinaigrette to coat. Season the salad, to taste, with salt and pepper, and serve at room temperature.

Red Wine Vinaigrette

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons honey

2 teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Mix the vinegar, lemon juice, honey, salt, and pepper in a blender. With the machine running, gradually blend in the oil. Season the vinaigrette, to taste, with more salt and pepper, if desired.

Yield: 1 3/4 cups

Oh yea,

2009-04-10T20:49:00.000-07:00

Also, this week at work I got stuck in somebody's well shed! The owners weren't home and I went in for a second to do my work. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the door slowly shutting with the wind and knew that it was fine because enough light was coming in from cracks in the wall to continue working. Only when I heard the click of the latch did I realize what kind of lock they had: the kind you see on gates that you have to reach over the gate to pull up. Except there was no reaching over this door!

At first I was super embarrassed when I called my boss. Only after I gave him directions to the house so that a coworker could come let me out did I realize how badly it could have been if I didn't constantly wear my work cell phone clipped to my jean pocket. When he came to let me out, I mentioned this to my coworker and he responded that he was surprised I had reception in that area of the county! I was in this shed for 40 minutes, standing the whole time because the floors were covered with straw and dirt and the walls had spiders and webs all over them. I realized that I was also lucky I was still in the county and not 2 hours away like I usually am.

WHEW! What a scare! Definitely learned my lesson.

Estoy practicando mi espanol

2009-04-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago I was flipping channels and saw that the Sex and the City movie was on HBOLatino and thought that watching it in spanish might be more entertaining, as the movie was a bit of a let down. Turns out my spanish isn't that great so I put the captions on. It was awesome except I got bored with the movie pretty quickly. Turns out the movie sucks no matter what language it's in. I've seen the movie twice and that is my limit although I can't even count how many reruns of the tv episodes I've seen over and over again without getting tired of them.

Now I'm trying it with Almost Famous and it's much better. I've seen that movie a million times and still love it! I think this was the movie that got Kate Hudson recognition for being such a great actress. I can't understand why every single movie she has done since has been stupid fluff. Yes, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is entertaining and a great movie, but dumb nonetheless, especially when compared to Almost Famous.

Last Tuesday I saw Flight of the Conchords in Tampa. It was the first show of their tour so they were noticably disorganized and kept chastizing the audience for yelling out song requests and witty comments. I don't blame the audience, Brett and Jemaine had too much down-time on stage. Their last encore song was Angels Doing It. I didn't really think it was that great when I saw it in the episode, but it was awesome live! Their voices harmonized so well and they have so much energy.
Here is a link to a live recording that someone else took a different show, but it's still better than the studio-produced version. The best part is at the end where they start ha-ha-haing. I don't know what it's called, but it's great. I took some pictures at the show but am too lazy right now to hook up my camera.

A while ago I went to a local NOW meeting in an effort to meet more girls my age since most of my friends have moved away after graduating college. I realized I am not passionate enough about certain feminist issues to actually write letters to my Representative or poll people on the street. I'm still on their list-serve and found out their "feminist book club" is reading Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver, my favorite author!! I have read that book at least 5 times already and will start it again this weekend in order to freshen up the details for the discussion. I'm so excited! I would never in a million years pick this book for it's pro-feminist qualities. You'd think that would be the main theme for books in this club, but I guess I will find out at the meeting.

Animal Vegetable Miracle

2009-03-06T19:53:00.000-08:00

I first read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver when it came out, as I was already a huge fan of her previous books. With her latest book, she surpassed Carl Hiassen and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings as my favorite authors. As I was looking for some audio cds to listen to on my long work drives, I saw this book and snatched it up. I currently have interns riding along with me. One of them doesn't seem interested in the subject and the other intern and I are listening to Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen.

So I decided to listen to it in my own car during the 10 minute drive to and from work each day. I found myself deciding to drive across town to a store I didn't care that much to go to just so I had a reason to continue listening to the book.

I highly recommend this book, in print or audio, to anyone who enjoys gardening, cooking, eating, learning more about where your food comes from and wants inspiration to make better food and living choices.

A few years ago a friend and I had a plot in the UF cooperative organic gardens. It was only our second gardening experience after taking Vegetable Gardening as a class at UF. Since then my interest in the subject has taken off, but now I live too far from the gardens to keep a plot. I've become obsessed with the idea of heirloom plants and even tried to visit Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co while driving through Missouri last summer. Sadly it was closed that day but I still get their catalog in the mail and dream of the day I can grow Queen Anne's Pocket Melon. They used to have this description, but dont' anymore. I found it on another website:
"an unusual historical variety that was grown principally for its intensely fragrant small fruits, which Victorian women would carry in their pockets as a form of perfume!" How fun is that? Apparently the melons have a bland taste though. I can't wait until the day I have enough land to grow all the different types of melons and tomatoes.

It's now spring in North Florida and the my daily work drives through the country reveal beautiful scenes. Here is a picture of sheep that I passed on my way through Mayo, FL recently. All the lambs were out, I guess birthing season is in the winter here.

This is a picture off the coast of Yankeetown, FL. The road was surrounded by views of this mixed with salt marshes as it's on the Gulf Coast. Not too many people live out there so it's extremely quiet, breezy and peaceful. I found a nice place to pull off the side of the road, eat my lunch, listen to Skinny Dip and stare at this scene.

My job takes me to the most interesting places....

2008-12-08T15:14:00.000-08:00

Three to four days a week, I have to travel throughout the small towns in North-Central Florida for my job. I quickly learned that unless I want to eat Hardees or the local Southern buffet, I would have to bring my own lunch. If I am lucky, I find someplace like this to eat it in. This is in Fanning Springs, and right beyond that fence is the Suwannee River. This is probably my favorite place I've found so far to eat and rest. One time I looked up to the river just as a tarpon splashed up and back into the water. I only saw the splash but I'm positive that's what it was!

The other month I was driving through a neighborhood in Perry, FL and saw this goat. First I thought it was a bit strange to see a goat in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. Then I drove closer and realized it only had Three Legs and No Tail! But it seemed content nibbling at this house's lawn, so I didn't feel too bad for it.

I was driving around in the middle of nowheresville and came across this structure in a field. At first that smoke stack looking thing in the middle made me think of a power plant of some sort. However it's not a very large building (compare it to the powerline pole to the left of it) and also there was no fencing, signs, parking lots or roads leading up to it. Plus nobody was around. And again, it was in the country. If it was a power plant, there were maybe 5 homes within a mile radius to service. Weird.

Event-ful

2008-10-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the fall's first without a football game (which is a big deal here in UF town) so it was jam-packed with events.

My dad came to visit so after dinner, we went to the Downtown Community Plaza for a free outdoor concert of a local Irish band. I love traditional Irish music but was a bit disappointed to see no fiddle! It was fun to watch all the little babies dancing around. People-watching in general at these weekly summer concerts is usually what draws me in the first place.

Then we walked over to Volta, a newish coffee shop that opened downtown. I'm not a big coffee drinker so I was excited to see all the different varieties of tea and hot chocolate available. I ended up with a jamaica agua fresca. I've only had a horchata agua fresca (basically rice milk with cinnamon) so I don't know how "authentic" it was, but it sure was tasty! Jamaica is made from the hibiscus flower and it's extremely tart. It reminded me of pomegranate juice but with a sweeter aftertaste. I'll definitely be going back to try their different agua frescas of the day and also their white hot chocolate which has this description: "a white drinking chocolate that impresses everyone. Lemon myrtle, indigenous to Australia, imparts flavors reminiscent of lemongrass and kaffir lime. Lavender flower yields a floral bouquet while the citrus notes of lemon myrtle cut the sweetness of white chocolate."

The next morning we walked over to the Friends of the Library Book Fair. It only occurs twice a year for five days each and somehow I end up going every one of those five days and buying new books each time. I can't really complain about the money since I bought seven books yesterday for $4.00. It's the best deal in town and possibly the most popular outside of Gator sports and the art festivals.

Then we headed over to The Kanapaha Botanical Gardens for their Annual Fall Plant Sale. I had never been but this year admission was free. I rent in a house I don't plan on staying in for long, so I only bought an African Violet for my kitchen window, but the gardens were beaaauutiful! I was impressed by how large the grounds are and the diversity of the plants. I also liked how almost all the plants you saw had labels with the common and scientific names and sometimes even descriptions and historical information about the plant. There was a scenic overlook onto Kanapaha Prairie, which I had heard about plenty of times but had never seen it. My parents love gardening and collecting plants so I've grown up going to plenty of gardens and have to say that Kanapaha definitely ranks up there with the best of them. The next plant-loving visitor who comes to stay with me will be getting a trip here!

Liquid Muse

2008-10-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday coming back from the library, I stopped in at The Thomas Center because its gallery is currently showing "Liquid Muse". The show is put together by a professor at the local community college and focuses on the The St. John's River. All of the works of art showcased focus on either the eocsystem or cultural importance that the river has on this region. I really enjoy art on the natural areas of Florida and recognized some of my favorite local artists.

One of them is Margaret Ross Tolbert. She mainly creates abstract paintings of the springs that are so prominent in the North-Central Florida landscape. She came to speak to one of my classes at UF a few years ago and I saw her show at The Harn.

I think this image is from the showing at The Harn, but if not, it was very similar to this one. The intention is to recreate being in a spring, as the paintings surround you on multiple sides.

This is one of her paintings of a spring. The blue in the middle is the spring and you can see the trunk of a cypress tree with some knees up at the top. I love how she uses color. The variety of the the colors you see in the pools of water astounds me every time I visit one. I also think she has the best job ever. She gets to go to springs all over the state and paint all day and then swim when she's done, or really probably she gets to swim any darn time she feels like it. I know I would.

I hadn't heard of Jim Draper before my visit to the gallery, but he was also one of my favorites of the show. I'm not sure if this is the exact painting that was there but if not, it was very similar.

There were plenty of other paintings that were amazing and I definitely recommend this show to anyone who is interested in Florida nature or even just looking for some good art.

When I walked in the room I was surprised to see a sign with instructions on how to use your cell phone as a tour guide. When I called the number listed, there was a recorded introduction on the history behind the topic and then I could dial a different number for each painting to hear about the subject and also the author. I thought this was genius because normally I go to art shows and my opinion is based solely on my aesthetics. This time the viewer can hear about the meaning behind the paintings and understand how they all fit together. However the person whose voice was recorded for this was a bit monotone and I found myself not wanting to stand there listening to the artists's entire biography. I closed my cell phone after the first couple of recordings and wandered around with my own thoughts instead.

Unfortunately the exhibit only lasts until October 19th, so get there while you can!

Welcome

2008-08-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to start a blog for a while, but never knew really what to write about. I'm still not sure what I'm going to write about but I have a few ideas. I guess we'll find out soon...