Catch of the Day

I went fishing this weekend. My friend Brandon and I went to Prairie Creek, which is along the Hawthorne Rail Trail. It's a dark creek that drains Newnan's Lake.


Actually, when I ride on the trail, this boardwalk is my turn-around point.


I caught a fish!!! It was a large catfish. I was very excited.


It doesn't look that big in this photo because Brandon has large feet. And it's flopping around.


We gave it to the dude who was fishing next to us. I don't eat fish and Brandon didn't want to skin it, although he said catfish are "good eatin'." I'll take his word for it. (He didn't catch anything.)

Just Call Me "Director"

I just found out that I'm on the board of directors of a newly formed non-profit organization my friend Alex is starting in the Virgin Islands. That is, I knew I would be on the board of directors, but I just found out we are officially formed! It's pretty exciting. Alex is a master scuba diver, urban planner, and environmental scientist extraordinaire. She created the organization, Nautical Farms, Inc., to grow coral in order to repopulate the decimated reefs of the U.S. Virgin Islands and simultaneously conduct environmental education, which as far as I can tell doesn't really exist down there. It's going to be awesome.

I was generously given a digital camera by Mindy, and I'm stoked to start using it. I haven't taken any photos yet, because I've been too busy. But this weekend I'm going to Austin, and I'm planning to see some of the nature-y stuff around there. I've never been to Austin. The last time I was in Texas I was hospitalized for the first time ever, so I've avoided the state since then. This trip should be more fun.

Away Again

I neglected to mention that I was leaving town for a few days. I'm in Michigan at a conference until tomorrow, and will be back on Monday with some cool photos of Lake Michigan to post.

Biking the Rail Trail

The Hawthorne Trail, a sixteen-mile rail trail, extends from Hawthorne to Gainesville. It's a state park created after the state bought the right-of-way from the railroad and paved it.

I love the trail, and go through phases where I spend a lot of time biking it. In the past week -- now that it's still light when I leave work -- I've been on it three times.


It's beautiful. There are many different ecosystems (although I'm sure I'll get the names wrong), like prairie-type areas.


Hammocks.


Marsh/wetlands.


Swampy creeks with a billion mosquitoes.


This time of year, the longleaf pine smells fragrant, everything's blooming, and wildlife is on the move.


On one ride, we nearly ran over two different moccasins who were warming themselves on the late-afternoon-warmed pavement. We gently chased them off so they would be safe. They were recalcitrant, but eventually complied.



Bike home, tired, hot, sweaty, and satisfied.

A River Runs Through It

I've been absent because I've been busy, but not with all things sustainable.

But Wednesday I took the day off work and went kayaking with my friend Rayne and her friend Caimee, who was visiting from North Carolina. We went down the Santa Fe River. It was BEAUTIFUL!! It was cool and perfectly sunny, with a little breeze that was a wee bit chilly.


We saw:
--tons of turtles (of course)
--anhinga
--two red-shouldered hawks
--great blue herons
--little blue herons
--pileated woodpeckers
--white egrets
--limpkins
--kingfishers
--ducks
--a million vultures (creepy)
--one naked man

We even heard a few barred owls (around 4 o'clock)! I didn't see any algae, water lettuce, or water hyacinth to speak of, which is good. We saw two -- two!! -- canoes the entire time, two boats, and no swimmers -- just scuba divers in Ginnie Springs. The river was basically ours, for twelve entire miles!

I should explain the naked man.

There's a spring, called Lily Spring, that's privately owned. It's on a little side jaunt off the Santa Fe. You can see the kayaks we rented.


A nudist named Ed lives there.


He takes care of the property and hangs out with canoeists and kayakers. He's a nice guy.

Another person we met was Verniss (sp?), this very opinionated guy who runs Ichetucknee Canoe and Cabins. He cares a lot about the river.


They 'like' quotation marks "a lot" "there."

It was a perfect day. I'll post more photos as soon as Caimee e-mails me hers.

Back from My Road Trip!

I'm back! I had a great road trip.

(I will interrupt myself here to explain that yes, I know road trips are not exactly sustainable since one uses gas and all that. And if there were trains that actually got you anywhere worth going in fewer than twenty hours or whatever, I would gladly take them. But meanwhile, we live in the U.S., and so we drive. Finally, my car gets better gas mileage than the cars of anyone else I know--forty to forty-five MPG on the highway--so I think I've said enough about this now.)

My first stop was Asheville. Of course, I love Asheville. Good food, beautiful mountains, and sympatico people. I stayed with my friend Hugh:

He just bought a house. I wanted to blog about the landscaping, but he only had two sad planters on his porch, and they were empty:


Asheville was so beautiful. Here in North Central Florida we get some leaf color in, oh, January, but in Asheville it's prime leaf color season, or whatever you call it. Anyway, it took my breath away. We played frisbee golf on what I am convinced were the two most perfect days of the year anywhere in the world, weather-wise.


The color of the leaves is impossible to really capture in a photo. At least with my camera.


I really love the mountains.


Next I drove to Durham to see my oldest brother and his family. They have a two-and-a-half-year-old and a five-week-old. At the risk of deviating from my blog's mission, I have to show a photo of my niece Mia. She was a princess for Halloween:


Finally, I went to Charleston to see my friend Chris. We danced salsa. I am not a good dancer. But I did have fun. My camera was out of batteries by then, though.

What I Love about Florida, Pt. 454

I spent a long weekend with my friend Chris and her boyfriend, Eddie, this summer in the panhandle. We were on Blackwater Bay, just east (I think--I'm not so great with directions) of Pensacola. It was so beautiful.

We went kayaking one afternoon. Her two dogs rode with her (one got seasick and then fell into the bay). We watched a pod of dolphins feeding at sunset.


The house was off the grid, relying solely on solar energy and a well to function. There was a backup generator that ran on biodiesel. Pretty cool! It's hard to see in the below photo, but it's a beautiful house owned by a couple who are friends of Chris'.


For miles and miles around was conservation land, owned by the air force base and the water management district, among others. There was an estuarine stream (not sure of the exact terminology) right next to the house. It fed into the bay, really swiftly at high tide. If one was in the water trying not to think about sharks, one felt as though one would be swept away.


We also went on a boat ride (my favorite!) on the Yellow River.


Thanks, Chris!!