Yellow Wildflowers, Old Farmhouse

Here's another view of the yellow wildflowers shown in the last picture, with the old farmhouse in the background.

I love these rural landscapes. When I was very small, I used to beg my parents to live in the country. "Why can't we live on a farm and have horses?" was a constant, pesky question.

I guess some childhood dreams don't die.

Land of Flowers, and a Vanishing Way of Life

Not all of our spring wildflowers are purple. Here are some beautiful yellow ones, although I'm not sure exactly what they are—they could be blackeyed susans or maybe coreopsis, the state wildflower.

"Florida," after all, translates from the Spanish as "land of flowers." Evidently the early Spanish explorers were so impressed with the native flora that they named this area for its flowers. I hope that over time, more and more people will come to appreciate and encourage these wild beauties. 

I love the old barns in the background of this picture. They stand as silent reminders that an old, honored way of life—that of the family farm—is fast disappearing, although not entirely gone.

I have been heartened recently to see that there is a growing movement that encourages people to eat locally-grown food; perhaps this will inspire more farmers to stay in business.

Carpets of Purple Phlox

The spring wildflowers are blooming, providing feasts for the eyes on nearly every rural roadside.

The phlox are my favorites, so thick in places that they look like purple carpets along the roads and in the fields. Here, above, is a glimpse of what I see every day on my commute to my new job. (Remember, you can always click the picture for a better view.)

The key to encouraging the wildflowers is NOT MOWING THE GRASS. I've noticed this year that some places that used to be thick with phlox have been mowed, so of course there are no flowers at all where there used to be many of them.

In our front yard, we have some phlox that we are trying to encourage, so last year we didn't mow until all the phlox had gone to seed. I'm sure our neighbors looked askance on that particular practice, but our spot of phlox has expanded this year, so we will again follow the same practice. It would be wonderful if our whole front yard could one day be covered with phlox!

The Mind

The mind is the mountains,

rivers, trees, and grass,

and the mind is the sun,

the moon, and the stars.

-Dogen

Springs Trash

Over the past year, I was stunned to find out that in addition to the one water bottling plant that's been in operation near Ginnie Springs for a number of years now, there were no less than four requests—some active, some dormant—to construct water bottling operations on one three-mile stretch of the Santa Fe River.

Looking at the trash left at our neighborhood spring today, I'm reminded that the vast majority of those plastic water bottles don't get recycled—they end up in landfills.

Do we all really need to drink bottled water? Water from the tap is just as good; in fact, lots of bottled water is simply tap water, bottled from the same municipal water sources that supply water to your home.

There are many alternatives to plastic water bottles that can be had for just a minimal investment. I use a Sigg bottle; Klean Kanteen and L. L. Bean both make nice stainless steel bottles, and I'm sure there are other alternatives as well.

Afternoon Light, Easter 2009

My favorite time to take pictures is in the late afternoon. Actually, that's my favorite time of day, period. I love how the light slants through the trees and makes shifting, dappled patterns all around as the sun goes down. It's a magical time.

The photo above captures some of the afternoon magic at our neighborhood spring, looking from the woods out toward the river. If you look closely, you can see more cypress knees.

If We're in Florida, There Must Be a Football Somewhere

Folks in the spring today were having the kind of fun we like to have here in the home of Gator Nation—football!

Note the ramp in the background is partially underwater. The spikey-looking objects in the foreground are cypress knees, which are thought to provide stabilization for the cypress trees that are so common here in swampy areas.