Sunday, August 12, 2012

A Practically Perfect Sunday



 Fourteen pints of pickled okra.
Plus, we have the dehydrator going with cut-up, seasoned okra for snacks. Can you imagine? Crispy, spicy okra snacks?
Oh yeah.

This could be the best ever.

And then we took a boat ride. Mr. Moon borrowed a boat from our friend Tom to go gator hunting in and he cleaned it all up and got it tuned up and ready to go and we took it down to the Wacissa River which is about eight miles from our house. Okay, maybe ten. I have no idea. But close. Real close. It's a fucking sin that I don't go there more often. It's what Florida is. It's why we live here.
It was a dream.

 Mirror-water. Cypress trees.

Egret.


 The spring head where we put the boat in. Folks gather here like the animals at any watering hole. It is pure goodness. Kids and grown-ups and rednecks and kayakers and dogs. There was a bull dog that I tried like hell to get a picture of but I couldn't. She was beautiful, one eye circled in brown, all muscle and joy.


 A tiny island with a tiny bonsai cypress tree and limerock.


Sky and water.



And more.



 We went up into a springhead and swam. The water is so cold that it takes a while for old hearts to settle down. It is a renewal. It is a cold, sweet blessing.



 There were two happy labs with their daddy there. They dove and swam like otters.



Kayakers leaving the spring head to go home.


I ain't got no words.


Wood stork? I'm not sure.
In a roosting tree where other birds were gathered as the sun grew low in the sky.


My husband looking up to see the Mississippi Kites floating above us. There must have been a dozen. We've never seen so many at once.


I've never loved a boat quite like this one. It's flat and goes in the shallows and I steered it for awhile. The steering mechanism works like a rudder and I felt like Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings on one of her trips up the St. John's in which she restored her soul. I felt like a Florida woman, and my skin was cool from my baptism in the water bubbling up from the great aquifer. I felt like the luckiest woman in the world.


Some Sundays turn out all right.
This one.

Oh yes.


16 comments:

  1. Sounds beautiful. As always, thanks for sharing with all of us.

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  2. Maybe you should get your own boat.

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  3. Jill- It was stunningly gorgeous.

    DTG- I thought about that today. I did. But then of course the engine quit and Mr. M. had to figure it out. There is a big cypress pole in the boat, though. I used it and it felt real good. That motor only goes forward, no reverse.
    Not a metaphor. Just the truth.

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  4. It looks lovely. And I never had pickled okra. Nor crispy, spicy okra. Just by the way you describe it makes me want some.

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  5. I wonder how well Okra would grow in Canada. Maybe I should try some next year.

    You day = bliss.

    Thank you for sharing.

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  6. I am so glad that you share your Florida home with me. One of these days (probably once the kids are grown) we will move out to Florida and live there very happily. Your photos look so dreamy.

    What about the places where you guys were swimming? Don't you worry about gators? Did you see any gators? Do you catch them and cook them?

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  7. Such abundance. Okra, birds, boats, water, love.

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  8. Captain Mary! Thanks for taking us along. There's nothing more lovely than a river with lilypads and cypress trees. I think you had about the best Sunday ever.

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  9. Every time you talk about rivers, it reminds me that I need to go to mine. Restoration time.

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  10. Thanks for sharing this. Does sound like a perfect day. I really enjoyed going along with you, pickling the okra, and the swim and boat. I could feel it all. Lovely.

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  11. Oh, I am so glad. That looks perfect!

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  12. Sounds like a terrific voyage! I've never been on the Wacissa, but I've been on the Withlacoochee and the Suwannee and the Hillsborough and the Ichetucknee. Beautiful rivers, all. You're right that part of the joy of living in Florida is taking advantage of the natural environment, which too often gets paved over.

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  13. You continually surprise with your doings in life. From pickling okra to river boating in heaven... what a nice and full day. Thank you for sharing your life with us. S. Jo

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  14. Beautiful photos! I agree with DTG--time for a boat, Mary.

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  15. Beautiful!
    And the scenery looks nice too.
    (I love okra.)
    xo

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