I now understand why people wear pajamas: getting into a bed with cold sheets is not fun with bare legs. At home, we turn on the electric mattress pad. Here, at Silver Springs State Park near Ocala and when we were in Utah, it was pjs for me. Even with the heat on at a comfortable 66°, the sheets were chilly and took a while with body heat to warm up. One more thing I never knew in South Florida.
We spent 4 days with our cabin camping crew. This is our first time at this park. The 2-bedroom cabins have huge rooms and wraparound screen porches, which would be lovely in warmer weather. Their shaded seating wasn’t for us this trip. The mornings were in the high 30’s; the days were sunny 60’s.
We took the hour and a half glass bottomed boat ride and saw 17 species of birds and some of the macaque monkeys that are descendants from a group released over a hundred years ago. A few years ago, the state tried to remove them all since they are nonnative and do much harm, but the brouhaha that arose squelched that project. So the tourists love them even while they eat native plants and bird eggs. The most interesting part of the boat ride was when 11 manatees swam by us at full speed, heading to a cove off the main waterway. In the clear spring water, we could see them really flipping their tails up and down, leaving a pretty big wake. In all my years living on New River and viewing manatees, I’ve never seen them move more than at a leisurely pace. Amazing.
One day we walked the Sinkhole Trail. Another day, we walked the Swamp Trail. I still haven’t learned to stop when I want to bird, so I tripped over a root when I was walking and looking at tree tops. I landed hard on both knees and palms, extending my arms out, rather than the recommended tuck and roll. Fortunately, nothing seems to be damaged. I concentrated on lower plants and looking down after that.
I painted every day, trying some landscapes of the cabin and plants. Much harder than it looks, at least for me. I couldn’t do the intricate details, and I haven’t learned how to simplify and just give the impression of what I want to paint. On the other hand, I am pleased with my sketching. Was that the pride that goes before a fall? Next year, it will be interesting to look back and see my improvement.
We returned home via lunch at Drifters, an upscale biker bar/restaurant on the St John’s River, and the Barberville Yard Art Emporium. The idea of yard art attracts me, but I’m stymied about what to buy. Perhaps if I were younger, I’d start a collection to put in the yard. Now, I think just one or two pieces would look lost. I did bring home some garberia seeds, so I may have more plants to add instead.
Although I didn’t see any signs of bears in the state park, including claw marks on trees, scat, or official warnings, once we were outside the park, there were bear road signs all along St Rd 40. Surely bears would be happy at Silver Springs.
Diane took my picture while the volunteer explained that he hadn’t heard of bears in the park anytime during his 6 years of service. Ah, well, next year.
Comments
Post a Comment