Monday, February 27, 2017

This Is Why I Live In Florida, Part 2000


The Lodge at Wakulla Springs

Yep. We went to the Springs and it was a laid-back, relaxed, fun day. For sure. 
Vergil's papa is a sweet man and his wife is so funny and smart and she's not opposed to using the F-word when it's appropriate so you know I love her. They're the kind of people you feel real comfortable with. And I love seeing August with his other grandparents. You know, the more people you have to love your babies, the better off everyone is. Especially the babies, of course. And August has three sets of grandparents who adore and cherish him and he is one lucky little guy. 

So we had lunch in the beautiful dining room. And showed August Old Joe in his glass case in the lobby of the lodge. 


And of course we took the jungle boat cruise because you just have to. 


We saw so many birds and so many turtles and so many alligators including baby alligators hanging out with their mama on a little island and Joe, Jr. who is as big as Big Joe but not dead and still growing. He likes to hang out on the bank directly across from the swimming area. 
And let me just say- that is one big freaking alligator. Almost 12 feet in length. 
We saw the back of a manatee, as well, which was fairly thrilling. 

Ah, Wakulla Springs. Pumps out 400,000 gallons of water a minute and it's beautiful but they haven't been able to run the glass bottom boats for three years due to pollution. What used to be water as clear as gin has a green tint to it now and that water is coming directly from our aquifer which is what we drink, what we are so blessed to live on top of here in Florida. 

Well. What are you going to do? Oh yeah. Not elect people like Donald Trump and Prick Scott to office for one thing. 
Too late, cupcake. 
Done is done and here we are. And we can't blame it entirely on those two. Naw. There have been legions of politicians who have been more than willing to sell the very lifeblood of this state to Big Ag and manufacturers and developers since the first white man cut his way through the palmettos and swamps with machetes and big plans. 
I'm frankly amazed we have anything of natural beauty left. 

After the boat ride we went to the snack bar and got ice cream treats and M, Vergil's papa, got me my heart's desire- a souvenir magnet featuring Johnny Weissmuller, my childhood first crush. 


That's one of the movies which was filmed at Wakulla Springs back in the 40's. As was "Creature From the Black Lagoon."

And as anyone who has been reading here for any time at all knows, I still have a huge crush on Johnny Weissmuller and always will. My Ape-Man Hippie. 

A good time. A day when I got asked if I wanted to do something and I said, "Yes." 
I do occasionally have those days and I'm always glad I answered in the affirmative. 
I got to spend time with people I really like and love. I got to hold and play with my grandson, eat a delicious lunch, and spend time on a beautiful river where it's so easy to gaze into the cypress trees bordering its banks and imagine a time when the only inhabitants were the indigenous people, the birds, the big cats, the deer, the gators, the fish, the manatee, the bear. A time when the water was so clear that you could see to the bottom of the spring head, to the very bones of the mastodons, the saber-toothed tiger, the armadillos as big as Volkswagens, who had lived there centuries before. 

We waded in the water today and it felt like a blessing, a Baptism. 
Even now and perhaps, always, whether humans are around to appreciate it or not.  

I can only hope. 

Love...Ms. Moon


16 comments:

  1. So glad you all had a great time. Beautiful day, too.

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    1. Yes. It was a bit cloudy here, but cool enough.

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  2. I remember being very upset about a person being elected, a long time ago and I saw no hope for us ... back then. And my husband who was a grown up :) and wise ... said it will all settle down, things will go back to normal/pre election thinking and behaving and everything will be alright. There are too many ways a person can be blocked from doing whatever he wants to do, he is not the Emperor, he is the President with all those Senators and people telling him No sir, you can't do that .
    So those are the words that I hang on to ... that there are enough normal brained people in DC who will keep some semblance of normality in the US until these 4 years zoom by ...

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    1. I can only hope that there are, as we speak, meetings of minds far more intelligent and knowing than mine who are trying to figure out how to save us from this would-be-Emperor.

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  3. ps
    I am living in Jacksonville and it is downright chilly tonight !!

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  4. What we call A Grand Day Out.

    Tarzan seems to be impressing Jane with his secret treasure on the film poster. What do folk sometimes say in such situations? Get a room?

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    1. He and Jane did not need a room. They had an entire tree house to themselves. Which Tarzan built for his lady-love.

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  5. Sounds like a near-perfect day. 'Course now if Johnny had come swinging down on a vine . . .

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  6. I miss that place so much. Tallahassee was not for me but I loved Wakulla. ~Sarah from Columbus

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  7. It snowed here today. It is the 4th worst winter ever on record. It is making me cranky. But there Is little August wearing shorts looking adorable. That makes me less cranky.

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  8. What a great day! Someone should pay a Johnny Weissmuller impersonator to wander around in his Tarzan loincloth and swing through the trees now and then. That would be a very Florida thing to do. :)

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  9. I am always struck by Jessie's light and beauty. She wears the world gently, that one.

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    1. "Jessie's light and beauty .. " what a wonderful thing to say ..

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  10. a fun day fer sure. I wish I had NotesFromAbroad's optimism. because I don't see congress reining him in and the EPA in on the chopping block.

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  11. I love that Vergil's father bought you a Johnny Weissmuller magnet. You always make me remember the slightly tense delight and magic of watching those films when they were on. I wish they still were.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.