When you look out over the sawgrass prairie here in the Everglades—where we’ve been hiking through a very wide, shallow river—you can see far across to the horizon, across limestone flats, with zero signs of mankind. The quiet around you seems surreal. Like time has stopped. In reality there are roads nearby, like this one […]
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Back in the Everglades Again
Out where a friend is a friendWhere the big mosquitoes feedAnd the lowly hikers bleedBack in the Everglades again. Here we are, for the third time, because this place is worth it. We spent Thanksgiving at the large campsites of Big Cypress, as a quick stop between reservations in Tampa and Naples. Then we had […]
Scrap Photos
At the magazine where I worked last, the designer and I would keep folders of images we had permission to use but hadn’t used yet. Here are my scrap photos from this week. Sunrises and Sunsets from the Campground Hiking on Big Pine Key The geology of the lower keys is unique, with a very […]
Birds, Crabs, Dead Gators, Oh My
So far at Flamingo in the southernmost tip of the Everglades, we’ve gotten out of the campground early each morning to hike (before the crowds). Then we fix lunch at the trailer and eat in the shady tent. Tracy walks Banjo and he or I clean the dishes and sort stuff (there’s always sorting). In […]
Ending the Year with Snake Bight
That’s not meant to be click bait, I promise. We were the first to hike the Snake Bight Trail this morning—I post about that, way below. But first … Where We Are It’s been so long since we moved that I should start out with this! We left our community-centered, 55+ RV resort near Naples […]
Wishing You a Warm Holiday Full of Wonder
Merry Christmas, from the coldest Christmas that Florida has seen in recent history! (Okay, it’s 80 today on Christmas Eve, but it’s going to be only 60 tomorrow.) I’m writing this on Christmas Eve to gear myself up for the holiday. Later today I’ll reminisce with my son on the phone about our annual Epic […]
Won’t You Meet My Neighbors
This isn’t Mr. Roger’s neighborhood, clearly. But it’s just as inviting and entertaining. Bird Rookery Swamp You know that a hiking path is a favorite of locals when people you meet walking toward you say, There’s an alligator ahead, before the picnic table. Two of them, on the right before the gate. First of all, […]
Jackpot with the Birdwatching
Sweetwater Wetlands Park Tracy’s very wonderful sister took us to an unusual water filtration area that’s also a bird preserve. It’s a 125-acre man-made wetland that filters run-off water and pollution from Gainesville through a series reservoirs. They were built and opened to the public as a bird sanctuary gradually so the ecosystem could settle. […]
Tracy and Shelly Go to a Boiled Peanuts Stand
Except, we haven’t gotten there yet! You guys know the classic stoner movie where Karl Penn and John Cho (Sulu!) get amazingly high and decide they want “something different” for their munchie food, which sets them on an epic journey to a White Castle restaurant. They end up going to jail, riding a cheetah, and […]
Texas, the Big Caricature
A friend told me that Texans are caricatures of themselves, and they don’t even know it. We keep saying that over and over here. It’s brilliant. What does this caricature look like? Texans: don’t wave. Not even when their arm is resting on the truck door as they’re passing you slowly down a narrow dirt […]
