Clearwater Lake and More

While we have been traveling back in time of late, lots has been happening in the here and now.

 As it always does.

 Remember the car trouble I mentioned last week? The one that interfered with my DFG duties? Still happening and all we can say is "Thank God for extended warranties!" First they replaced a part that cost around a thousand dollars. Wasn't enough. As I type, it is still over at the dealership awaiting a NEW transmission and another part!! Now Bruce has a loaner, but for a good part of the week he used either my car, or a rental car. It was quite the stressful week for my honey. 

One thing I neglected to mention about our London trip was that my glasses broke. Or maybe I did, but that fix by Team Peck worked fine, and then the other arm broke off two weeks ago. Time for new glasses which I now have had for more than a week and not a soul has noticed even though they are both a different shape and color! That's a tiny whine about becoming more invisible by the day as we old folks do. 

Anyway, Bruce came with me when I was picking them out and one thing he noticed was a skeleton for sale at Costco. I balked. "Silly", I said. A few days later I thought to myself, if B wants a skeleton, by God, he should have one regardless of what I think! $28 later he did. When he hung it up, it immediately took me back to my days in x-ray school when we had one hanging in our classroom. Indeed it is kind of silly, yet still fun even for a naysayer such as myself. And yes, the eyes are that blue.

Bruce spent most every day last week at the church with one project or another. A closer look at the capitals and you will see the gaping holes that the guys repaired. Luckily there are still craftsman that can do that sort of thing, however they are mostly our age so whether this kind of repair can occur in the future is questionable.

And here they are nearing the finish line. Today the scaffolding is coming down, after which the painters will finish both the porch and the columns.

What just about did him in though was the project below. To a casual observer it is probably hard to believe that the demolition of what was there, along with the installation of this new piece of play equipment for the preschoo,l took about sixty man hours to complete. Not only did it have to be put together, there are 12" deep footers filled with concrete for stability underneath the sand. Bruce and two other men worked in the blazing heat, (yes it is still blazing hot around here) for two afternoons and then on Saturday, during a church workday, as Bruce says, "the calvary arrived" in the form of a father/son team with fresh energy. The blue part at the top is a shade sail which will also need replacing.

As to finishing the quilt, it is getting there; probably at least eight more hours of work. Listening to hours and hours of "This American Life" podcasts made sitting for all those hours in front of the sewing machine enjoyable. It takes a long time to machine quilt, even as simple a pattern I am doing! When I wanted to take a break I read the new Elizabeth Strout book, Olive Again, which is terrific, albeit somewhat sad.

So, earlier in the month I ended a post by saying we saw some deer and nothing more. Today I am rectifying that situation and I hope you enjoy traveling with us to Clearwater Lake in Ocala National Forest. We left early, stopping at WaWa for gas. As I pulled out my camera to photograph the emerging color in the sky, this fellow put on a little act for the camera.

 

With the handy iPad in my lap, we discovered a new route that took us through some lovely rural scenes. Note the Golden Rain tree blooming in the background, our version of Fall color.

Before we knew it we were turning into the park and by golly, a deer ran across the road and into the woods, an awesome way to begin an outing.

And here, my friends, is Mr. Peck, along with a Sandhill Crane couple standing on the shore of Clearwater Lake.

It is well documented in this space how much I like these birds who spend huge amounts of time grooming, as do many other birds. It's been a long while since I was close to any, so between the deer sighting, and the birds, well, I was already satisfied with our trip.

 Bruce took off to join one other boat on the lake,

 and I took off on a walk to see the campgrounds. Here we go again!

Unreal, I thought to myself. Then again when, while watching the woods I saw SIX deer, two pictured below!! I could not believe my luck.

Being a Monday, we mostly had the entire place to ourselves, although there were maybe two groups in the campground. The ranger told me there was a 1.3 mile walking trail around the lake, so why not? A very sandy path made for easy walking amongst the Pines and scrub. Which is to say, not that pretty, but not too strenuous either.

Many years ago we visited Clearwater Lake because Bruce had come her with his family as a boy. There was the sweetest seven year old boy in the lake, who told me as I walked in myself, that the fish were nibbling his toes. As the name implies, it is clear indeed.

And although it was early October, the water was warm enough, even for adults. For the record, the fish found me lacking.

While I was chilling in the water, I began seeing butterflies, only one of which I was able to photograph, primarily because it landed on the sand (!), staying put for some time which begs the question, "why?" Warmth? Can't be nectar so your guess is as good as mine.

Before leaving we took one more drive through the campground, noting those that had adequate shade and space. A lake view is a definite plus. Long shadows for sure.

 Here is the entrance sign off of SR 44.

Rather than returning the way we came, we drove a short distance, seeing the sign for the Boy Scout campground, a place where Bruce and his Dad came regularly. There was at least a mile long road before we came to this sign noting the various campgrounds. Bruce has fond memories of his time at Camp La No Che.

Interesting that we should come across this place because as we drove back from North Carolina, one of the things I did was read to Bruce about modern day Scouting, including the requirements for badges. Furthermore I asked him to recite the motto and pledge, which he successfully did. Once a Boy Scout, always a Boy Scout, as the saying goes. His camping skills go back a long, long way.

Next post we will visit Orlando Wetlands Park, one tiny section shown below.

Amazingly, with that intense cloud cover there was a tiny chill in the air during our visit. TINY being the operative word. It was fun while it lasted!

your friend,

Gail