Catching up...

So much to catch up on. It's been several months since I've posted and so much has happened.

The summer was so hot and we suspended all outings that involved being outside. We still made almost daily trips to the dog park and went out to eat occasionally but we didn't do anything unusual before I left for Semmes, Alabama, in mid-June.
The 40th Theodore High School reunion was on June 19. Although I didn't graduate from Theodore, these are the people that I grew up with and consider "mine". I had a wonderful time visiting all these "kids" and really hope that we can get together more often than every five or ten years. I reconnected with several special friends and hope to keep these friendships going.
It was so good to see my kids, Kim and Brad, and to see my other friends. I got together for lunch with Judy and with Laura and Sandra. I miss them a lot when I'm in Florida. Soon enough though, it was time to come back to Ocala on July 3.
July through August was so hot we still didn't make many day trips but stayed busy with our friends at the dog park and going out to eat and getting together just for fun. On Labor Day weekend, September 3, we hosted a cookout for all our friends. Uncle Arnold, Cousin Larry, and "Aunt" Frieda came from Leeds, Alabama, for a visit and to attend the party. Larry grilled hamburgers and hotdogs (and burned off all the hair on his arm) and did a spectacular job. Arnold almost fell into the pool, giving Frieda and me near heart attacks, Mom had a little too much wine and knocked the potato chip bowl off the table. We got to know several acquaintances who we now call friends. We all really had a great time and we will do this again in the future.
Brad's softball team had a fantastic season and won a spot in the ESPN Disney Wide World of Sports tournament on September 17, 18, and 19. Kim rode down with the team and assorted girlfriends and wives. When they arrived in Ocala, about 2:30 am, Brad called me and I picked him and Kim up from the motel where the rest of the crew was staying. My babies stayed overnight here at the house, and then we drove to Disney in my vehicle. The team had rented two very nice townhouses in the area and Kim and I stayed in the Ramada Inn. They lost the first game and then we had to wait most of the day for the second game. Unfortunately, they lost the second game as well and so were out of the tournament. Both games were so close and they came from behind both times, but just too little too late. Anyway, now Brad was free for the rest of the weekend. He actually went skydiving. The folks who run the outfit actually video the entire jump - one person jumps tandem with you and another person jumps and videos the whole thing. I wish I had the courage to do this. It's sounds so invigorating and thrilling, but it's hard for me to get on a ferris wheel. We went to Sea World two days. Boy, Sea World has really changed since the last time I was there (20 years ago?? or more). But some of it is still familiar - the dolphin show and the Shamu show, for instance. But now there are roller coasters and other rides that just weren't necessary years ago. In order to bring in the kids especially, though, they've got to provide the thrills. Anyway, we had a wonderful time and I really enjoyed spending the time with my kids. Kim took lots of pictures so we will have these memories for a long time. We came back to Ocala Sunday afternoon and spent an hour or so at the house, then took off for Semmes. I had originally planned to go back in October, but this was a good opportunity so we went back together. I really treasure every minute I spend with both my kids, even if they both have earbuds in their ears and are not paying a smidgen of attention to me!

May 29, 2010 A normal glorious day

Today was a fairly normal Saturday. Get up, take the dog out, read the paper. Late in the morning I decided to clean off the top of the screen enclosure around the pool. Although most of the winter debris had blown off from the March and April winds, there was still some stuff that apparently was not going to blow away. I set the nozzle on the hose to "jet" and stood slightly back from the downcoming spray. I hit the screen roof with the spray and leaves, oak "worms" and pine straw flew, some straight up and out of sight but most to the next section of screen. My plan was to wash the bits and pieces up and over the peak of the roof, then off the side onto the ground. I made one pass parallel to the pool on the first section, then another pass back across, blowing the stuff across the peak and onto the down side. By this time, drops were falling like rain so I sat on the porch and waited for it to abate. I happened to glance up and beheld quite a sight.
There were hundreds of glittering jewels hanging from the screen roof. There were diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, all shimmering in the sun. As I watched and the droplets quivered in the sun, the jewels changed. Sapphires became emeralds, rubies became diamonds, and most amazing to me, diamonds changed to the most beautiful gold topaz. It was really a wonderful spectacle.

Perhaps this seems trivial, but I was struck by how God can take the most simple, the most mundane, and make it so glorious. I need to take more time to enjoy the little things and be content with what I have. God will take care of the rest.

Suddenly the job was fun! I looked forward to doing the next section and seeing another show.

Now, if only God will only make cleaning the toilets fun...

Blueberry Picking May 21, 2010

Britt and Carolyn love blueberries so last Friday we went to a local "you pick 'em" blueberry farm.

I expected bushes about two feet tall but these are almost trees.

We went fairly early, leaving the house at 7:30 am and by 8 we were picking. We were assigned a particular row, although there was only one family there and they were on another row. They left shortly after we arrived so we had the place to ourselves.


You are given a bucket that has a loop of twine so you can hang the bucket around your neck, leaving your hands free for picking. Actually, you're not supposed to "pick" individual berries, but sort of gently roll the bunch between your fingers and the ripe berries just fall off. If I were going to do this for a living, I would devise a more comfortable means of hanging on to the bucket, or rather for it to hang on to me.



Britt, being taller than the rest of us, was able to reach higher up on the trees and further into the middle. Since most folks just pick off the outer, mid-height branches, the berries he picked were much bigger than those the rest of us got. In fact, the owner was most impressed and practically offered Britt a job, LOL.






The trees were loaded and it only took about an hour for the four of us to pick almost twelve pounds.

Florida Museum of Natural History, April 22, 2010

The Florida Museum of Natural History is located on the campus of The University of Florida in Gainesville. Carolyn made the trip with us and our main focus was to see the butterfly exhibit. That alone was worth the trip but there is so much more than butterflies...these pictures do not do justice to the museum.






Just inside the front door...












All those little dots are butterflies...all the way down the hall as far as you can see.









These next few pictures are some of the life-like exhibits of Florida nature. Some are large and some are small but all are painstakingly made.














We didn't get pictures but there is a realistic cave with "critters" to depict an actual Florida cave. I was the only one brave enough to enter, ha ha.















A Florida beach at sunset...














There was a whole row of shark jaws, all recovered from the St. John's River - the RIVER!

Jaws was just a baby compared to this giant. Why am I smiling???





Ah, the butterfly garden. Visitors are not allowed to touch the butterflies but the butterflies can land on you (if they want). Oh, my, thousands of them...all colors and shapes, in constant motion all around.
The garden walk moves up as it winds around to depict the different habitats of the different butterflies. Some stay very low to the ground while others fly higher and higher. There were fish and turtles in the water and all the flora is native and real. The sound of rushing water makes you feel as if you were in a tropical rain forest.






























































There are always special exhibits that come to the museum and there was a quilt exhibit at the time we were visiting.

Many of the quilts depicted Florida scenes, animals, and flowers. I always pictured quilts as squares sewed together, but the methods used in quilting are varied and some very complex. These were some of our favorites.




































Here is sort of a different picture of where we ate lunch. Instead of a picture of the food (which was absolutely fantastic), we ladies stood under the sign of Blue Highway. Y'all, this is the place for pizza and key lime pie!!!!

Note:
We all wore colorful clothes in hopes that the butterflies would flock to us but, alas, it didn't work. Not one butterfly landed on any of us, nor on anyone else that I saw. There are so many flowers I guess they weren't interested in us.

Miscellaneous

This is my little black rat terrier mix, Tommy Turberville Jones. Britt has renamed him "Danger" because he feels he must sound the alarm whenever anything "threatens" us; for instance, a dog barking in the distance or the garbage truck stopping to pick up the garbage. Tommy does NOT like getting wet, he hates the pool at home, he's not crazy about getting a bath. So it's quite hilarious for him to suddenly decide to sunbathe right beside the pool. He also drinks out of the pool and shows no fear of it. Either Florida agrees with him, or he has "tourist" in his blood.

Tavares Wooden Boat Show, March 27, 2010

I thought you might be interested in some of the pictures Britt took when he went to the annual Tavares Wooden Boat Show.

There are some more pictures at the website below. Check it out!

http://picasaweb.google.com/britthalsell

Atlantic Launch, May 14, 2010

We left about 11:30 am to drive to Titusville, where we would have a good vantage point to see the shuttle launch. Britt had researched on the Internet and located a great spot, away from the biggest crowds and still with a good view. The shuttle was scheduled to launch at 2:20 pm and we arrived about 1:45. We weren't the only ones who knew about this location but it was still far away from the glut of cars and people trying to get a front row seat. We saw folks walking from blocks away from where they had parked. We drove into this side road, parked, and waited right there. Several folks walked up onto the sand pile but they didn't get any better view than we did. The shuttle took off right on time and we were able to see it almost immediately. This had been of some concern to us, that we wouldn't be able to see it clearly because the actual launchpad is about 12 miles away. Britt assured us that we would definitely see it and to just look for the "big wad of fire behind it". That brilliant scientific observation worked perfectly because there is a BIG wad of fire! It wasn't as loud as I thought it would be but it definitely got your attention. We watched it until it was only a small spot in the sky. I was awed by the power it takes to get this rather small shuttle up into space. Although these shuttle launches have become rather routine to many people, I thought it was amazing. I'm really glad that we went to see the beginning of Atlantis' final flight.






























































After the launch, we got back into the car and simply drove onto the highway and headed home. It took some folks two hours or more to get out of the parking snarl.
Yay, Britt!!!

On the way back we went through Sanford and stopped beside Lake Monroe.
Sanford is not a large town but very clean and neat, a mixture of old and new. There were several street-side cafes and many cool-looking shops. It is the kind of town where you can just walk up and down the sidewalks and find lots of great things to look at. There is a long and wide walkway beside the lake and maybe we can go back there and spend an afternoon just ambling around.

I have been mentioning that in our pictures of springs that the color of the water doesn't show true. In the pictures below, Lake Monroe appears blue but in reality the water is black as can be. It was sorta windy!

Blue Springs, May 20, 2010

We took a day trip on Thursday, May 20, to Blue Spring State Park, located in Orange City, Florida. Carolyn went with us and we left at 10:00 am. The drive took about an hour and 15 minutes or so and we arrived at our first destination, Dustin's BBQ in Orange City just in time for lunch. We decided to eat first on this trip so that we could walk off the calories afterward.

The barbeque was not the best I've had, in fact, wasn't too good. However, the salad bar was stocked with most everything you could want and it was enough for a meal.
So, with full bellies, off we go to the park.








Blue Spring is the largest spring on the St. John's River. The park encompasses 2,600 acres and is just amazingly beautiful. The Timucuan Indians lived on this land for hundreds of years. They settled by the river in part because of the abundance of a type of snail, which was a staple in their diet. When Louis Thursby brought his wife to live on this spot on the river in 1856, about all that was left of the Indian settlement was a mound of the snail shells the Indians left behind.


The house was constructed in 1872 and is still in it's original form. It was built on top of the shell mound in order to protect the house from flood waters of the St. John's.











Do we look anything like the women of that time period? Can't you just see us awaiting the riverboat to take us to the big city? Holy cow, can you imagine having to wear all those clothes in the middle of a Florida summer?






Anyway, Blue Spring became a bustling river depot and the Thursby's served as dockmasters and handled most everything that went on. Mrs. Thursby was the postmistress for the area and the family was apparently well-thought of in the community. They had nine children, three of whom died young. Two died in infancy and the oldest boy died from a rattlesnake bite. Medical care was only wishful thinking out in the "wilderness".

The house is within a stone's throw from the spring stream and closer to the river than to the spring. We walked along a boardwalk back toward the spring itself, stopping often to look at the water and the trees and taking in the beauty. We reached the halfway point where there is a gift shop and snackbar and the location of one of the "swimming holes". This is the spot where you "disembark" after a tube ride.

Blue Spring is a designated manatee refuge. The manatees are only present during November through March, while the water in the river is too cold. The spring is a constant 72 degrees and the manatees can winter near the spring and stay warm. There is no swimming during this time but the rest of the year you can swim, snorkel, scuba dive, and tube. Lifeguard or not, I was ready to get in that water!
















About halfway down the boardwalk toward the spring is the spot where you get into the water to either float/swim back toward the getting-out spot or where you can swim up to the spring itself. The water is so crystal clear, not at all green as it looks in the pictures. It's impossible to gauge how deep the water is at any given place, and it ranges from probably waist high to way over your head. As you can see, the environs apart from the man-made objects are totally wild and native. The fish are so numerous as to make any fisherman drool, but NO FISHING ALLOWED!

A little farther is the spring. You can see the boil (where the water actually comes out of the ground). It's the dark area in the picture. We talked to a group of scuba divers who had been down into the cave. It's quite a ways and they said they had not been to the end. Cave diving is a dangerous sport and no one is allowed to go alone. No thanks, I'll stay up here. I DID, however, wish I could jump in and paddle around. I don't know why the pictures show up green and I wish you could see just how clear the water really is.











On the way back toward the river we just took our time and some pictures. I love this tree - it has seen a lot in its lifetime. Where can there be a more peaceful setting than this stream on its way to the St. John's?




















This is a grass carp, a fish considered invasive but specially brought in to keep the river vegetation under control. Grass carp can grow up to four feet, weigh up to forty pounds, and eat three times its body weight each day.



I'm going to try and impress upon you just how many gars there were....literally hundreds!! From small to quite large, most of the time quite motionless in the water. I don't know what all these fish eat because there are just so many of them. I guess there are lots of bugs. We saw bass, bream, and talapia and lots of others that we didn't know.

























The trees adapt when they need to in order to grow. This one was very determined!

Time for a little rest. It's not so much hot as humid and it's quite a walk from beginning to end.












Moving closer and closer to the river now. The water starts to darken a little with all the tannin from the vegetation. In only a few hundred feet the water goes from clear to dark green.
















Finally, unfortunately, we reach the beautiful St. John's River. There are tour boat rides but we save that for another time. Here the water is just like any other river, black and seemingly bottomless, timeless and forever.












When school lets out for the summer, these parks become crowded and will sometimes close their gates until it clears out some. It's no fun to fight the crowds of grumpy grownups and screaming, crying tots, so this might be the last of these trips til next fall. I would like to come back when the manatees are here.

This is a must-see: beautiful Blue Spring!