Blue Light Special

Last Sunday, I almost got a speeding ticket. In a state park, no less. At the hand of an FWC law-enforcement officer, no less. There are more ironies than you might imagine wrapped up in that incident. When I share this news with my friend Crystal, you will be able to hear her laughing way down in Wakulla County. She followed me in her car a few weeks ago, and later reported that I drove her mad. “Nobody goes the … Continue

State Parks, and a Stingray

I walked along the edge of a marsh yesterday, and I came upon the body of a stingray. The ray had been dead a day or two, but it still seemed sentient to me, the way its wingtips rose and fell, gentled, in time with the small beats of the tide. Hermit crabs were making a meal of the ray’s body. With their front claws, they excavated bits of flesh, and fed themselves. They nibbled at the edges of the … Continue

Wisdom of Water Lilies

It’s still early spring, botanically speaking, in the Okefenokee Swamp. I had hoped to see legions of blooming pitcher plants, as I have on visits past, but very few are flowering on the last weekend in March. Jeff and I are paddling with one of my oldest swamp companions, Bob Knight, and his wife, Debbie Segal, from the Florida Springs Institute in Gainesville.  We four are all activists and lovers of nature–three scientists and one writer—eager for wilderness renewal.   … Continue