...to the lake...

after watching the Cinnamon Fern uncurl...

(and missing milo terribly...)

yesterday, we decided to do the 40 minute drive to Lake Lochloosa.

since we've been having lots of rain lately, we figured the water level would be high enough

to get our 'gheenoe' in.

we could paddle around...troll around...sam could do some fishing...

and i could get some pictures.

rather than posting a long line of photos, i decided to do a collage...of the

Lochloosa skies, butterflies, alligators, egrets, anhinga, herons, water lilies and eagles.

click to enlarge  -  7 oct 2012

“A lake is a landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. 

It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.”  

~Henry David Thoreau, Walden

thanks for stopping by.

have a great week.

stay cool. be safe.

lk

dragonfly perched on my 'pokey-stick, which sam tooled for me at his work...

i use it to poke in the ground...searching for treasures out back...

friday's fringe - 13 (majestically perched)

TWO Bald Eagles spotted at Lochloosa Lake, Hawthorne, Florida. about 30 minutes from home.

every friday. one of my nature shots.

(with an occasional 'morph' tossed in now & then)

be lucky.  be safe.

for more info on lochloosa:

Lochloosa Harbor Fishing Camp 

    Florida Fish & Wildlife: Lochloosa Lake

and

Florida Fish & Wildlife: Bald Eagle Management

lazing at the lake, whining and smiling...

last week...

at the last minute...

sam and i decided to load up milo 

and go camping.

we were both a little stressed out...

and thought if we took a drive to lake lochloosa...

only 45 minutes away...

did some fishing, camping, relaxing...

it would clear our heads.

it did. (for a little while).

so we headed to Lochloosa Harbor Fish Camp.

sometimes we go there just for the day...

and sometimes to camp overnight.

(we needed to forget that i don't have enough clients anymore...

and sam is not working...)

(UH-OH! i just noticed when i put the Lochloosa link in there...

'convenience' is spelled wrong on their website!)

(what is it with me and spelling?! can't i ever NOT notice misspellings or typos...)

anyway...maybe they'll see this...and fix it.

Lochloosa Harbor...it's the coolest...most rustic...

nature filled...local get-a-way.

so, hang out for a few minutes...and wander with me...

(great blue heron)

(bald eagle)

(all the bird pic's i took from the boat)

(seagull)

All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.   

~Friedrich Nietzsche

 

(ibis)

 

(snowy egret)

(pair of bald eagles)

(sam's mudfish. not a keeper. they've got a mouthful of teeth.

they put up a good fight when you hook one. this one twisted himself up...

round and round he goes...took a while for sam to get him untangled and back in the water!)

(no. don't even think that!   these cobwebs are NOT in the camper!)

(wood stork)

this lake used to be loaded with alligators! i didn't get one picture this time.

we only saw...maybe two...but they were too far away...

and only there heads were on top of the water.

(bald eagle)

(pair of eagles landing)

here's a great link if you want to know about Florida birds!

(it's a bird...it's a plane...it's...yeah, a plane. 

flying back and forth over the lake.  at least it wasn't a crop duster!)

(great egret)

(nearing sunset...on the lake.

 i think that beer coolie is glued to sam's hand.)

(sorry. just kidding.)

(sunset. takes your breath away. time to get off the water.)

(just getting our little 'ghenoe' up to the ramp...

time to go listen to music...and play cards or scrabble or something...)

(full moon (facing east) at night)

(full moon (facing west) over the lake in the morning!)

(our catch. keepers. catfish. bass. crappie. shell cracker.)

so, here i am. just about a week later. it's wednesday...

which is usually a slow day for me. 

sometimes the only appointment i have on wednesday is my weekly 4pm.   

since my body clock gets me up by 5am...

by the time 4:00 rolls around...i'm ready for a nap!

oOo

yesterday i ordered a couple of car magnets...to promote my massage business.

i'm always a little leery about doing that (advertising),

 because all i do  is in-home visits. 

and i've learned that the best way to get clients is word of mouth.

that way, at least you know that your new client is someone 

who knows someone else...

BUT i need to do more...i need to earn more. i need to stay busy.

(yeah, i also sell a little of my art stuff...but not enough...)

when you advertise...

ANYONE can call! 

and since i go into their home...i'm at their mercy...their terms...their turf!

over the years though, i've learned to judge people pretty quickly over the phone.

if they sound weird...even just a little...if i get that vibe...i send them on down the road.

i've only gotten into a few uncomfortable situations over the past 14 years.

nothing 'life-threatening'...just made my adrenaline pump a little harder...

almost kicking in that 'fight or flight'...but not quite.

so, like i said...here i am. almost a week later. nothing's changed.

sam's still looking for work.  i'm not as busy as i'd like. 

well, what i'd REALLY like is to quit work. retire. 

i've been working since i was 15. over 40 years. 

i'd like to make $$ selling my art. i'd like to spend my time being creative...

going on adventures every day...collecting bones...

i'm whining.

sam walked out of his job around christmas. 

he got pissed at his fellow employees...

for standing around & not working!

which is understandable...which wasn't anything new.

the guys he worked with 'milked' money from the boss any chance they got.

the boss was just too nice a guy. or too stupid to see...or care...

it had been building up and festering in sam...twisting in his gut...over the past few years.

so he walked out.

but with nothing else in the works. no replacement job. 

with the economy the way it is...I GOT A TWISTING IN MY GUT!

i'm still whining.

i bring home probably slightly more than he makes on unemployment.

i shouldn't complain. some people aren't even getting that. 

some people have lost everything.

i guess maybe i'm a little pissed. a little envious...

HEY...i'm five years older than he...

have been working longer than he...

i'm the one who should be standing in the front door...in my robe...

waving goodbye in the morning...not he.

who walks out of a job nowadays?!

why does it bother me? 

if you love someone, shouldn't you be supportive all the time? 

no matter what...

but lately i've been distant...frustrated...more uncaring...inpatient...

(oh, laura...quit it!  STOP whining!  

it's not like you have a regular 9 to 5 job anyway.

you shouldn't be complaining. you should be thankful.)

ho-hum.

"You have your way. I have my way. 

As for the right way, 

the correct way, 

and the only way, 

it does not exist." 

~Friedrich Nietzsche

anyway...time to change the subject.  something that makes me smile...

makes me shake my head...and smile in disbelief...

A MISSPELLED WORD on a SIGN!

(not that i'm the Master Speller. i'm NOT. but if you're painting a sign.

putting out a sign that advertises your business...

USE the dictionary...or spell check!)

don't you think they meant EXHAUST?

maybe it's a play on words...i could be way off here.

maybe EXHOST is a brand name for mufflers?

oOo

remember all the skulls we found in the field...a few weeks ago.

here's a picture of all the deer jawbones from that pile o' bones.

i've cleaned and sanitized them...now i let them sit in the sun...dry...bake...

then i'll start decorating them.

well...if you've made it this far...to the end...

thanks for listening. 

sometimes i just have to get it out. 

whether the feelings are justified or not...

it makes me feel better just putting it down...into words.

even if nobody hears me.

the writing is therapy...

Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.  

~JRR Tolkien

take it easy.  stay cool.

thanks for wandering...

:] laura

nature heals...

((before i begin...let me just say thankyou to EVERYONE for your words of support...comfort...and understanding (regarding my previous post).
i KNOW i'm not the ONLY one who feels this way...who has had losses...and, honestly...i felt BAD afterwards...kind of like i was being a 'whiner'...complaining and tossing my problems 'out there' for all to read. BUT...what's this 'blogger world' for...if not to express ourselves...in any way we feel necessary...at the moment. 
anyway...what i'm trying to say without turning into a pile of MUSH...is...i REALLY appreciate everyone who stopped by...read...shared their thoughts...whether here in writing...or keeping silent and sending mental messages. 
i received them all and i am so grateful!
  thank you. NOW...after a relaxing weekend...a  new day...a new post...))  :]

>>Don't let yesterday use up too much of today.  

~Cherokee Indian Proverb <<

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

we went to Lochloosa Harbor  over the weekend. we've been there MANY times over the years...it's only about a 40 min drive going southeast...they're right there on the lake...camping...fishing.  time to relax.  unwind.  

there's a small convenience store there at the campground...where we pick up our bait and ice.  i'm usually pretty good at remembering everything we need to take for the weekend...but this time i forgot the COFFEE!! YIKES!!!

...they have everything you might need in that little store...toilet paper, canned goods, snacks, beer, water, sandwiches, cooking oil, potatoes...and all things fishing...live bait, lures, line, nets...BUT NO COFFEE for sale!!  

i had to FORCE myself to sleep in til 6am...when the store opens...so i could get a cup...or two...of the fresh brewed coffee they offer...for free!! 

we got there late afternoon friday...set up the camper...picked up some bait...and headed out on the lake. we have a gheenoe...kind of like a canoe, but more stable...flat back with a 9hp motor. we can motor along or paddle...and able to get into real shallow areas.  we don't have lights on the boat, so we have to be off the water by dark. 

the first 'wildlife' i spotted was the (usual) florida anole...at our campsite.

 ...the sun sets...we're still cruising the lake...

these were taken right before we headed in to the dock.

same breathtaking  view right out our camper door...aaaaaaaaaahhh...

saturday morning, we saw smoke across the lake, coming from 'Burnt Island'. it's not really an island, but a protrusion of land into the lake...mainly a wildlife management area. 

in florida...there are 'controlled burns or prescribed fires', and we were hoping that's what was going on...and not a 'wildfire'.  (we did hear the next day that it was a prescribed fire)

that small plane circled for HOURS...making sure the fire was staying under control.

look at that tornado looking thing in the center!!!  

it's a vortex/swirl of HOT smoke!

we tried fishing...i say 'tried' because we're usually not too lucky in the 'catching' department. BUT we have fun anyway...riding around...adventuring!  some of our catches are probably small enough to be considered 'bait' to some people! ha!  we DID catch a few bigger ones this time though. specks...nice and fat! yum!

cypress trees, with spanish moss hanging...reflections of the morning sunrise...

bald eagle resting in a cypress tree...

                             

sam and i agreed...we've never seen these odd looking lilly pads before...

with the large seeds in the head...
((nov 2- thanks to 2 comments...i was told these are LOTUS seeds! i've taken pic's of the Lotus before...on lakes...guess i just never saw them in this stage...BEFORE they become lotus flowers!! cool!))

there were so many butterflies...dragonflies...i wanted to get pic's...

but they never seemed to sit still...constantly on the move...

OH!! we did see three otters walking along the shore...while we were fishing. but by the time i got the camera out...they were behind a thicket of weeds...we could see alot of commotion going on back there...the weeds moving all over the place. then they finally emerged and continued down the shore...dragging a long snake!! by then the camera had already powered down...and they were running like mad. looking forward to feasting no doubt!!

                             mating damselflies on the boat!

                                

we thought it was really odd not seeing alligators all over the place!!  usually we see them crossing the lake...sunning themselves...occasionally trying to go after our bobbers.  not this trip!  we saw ONE gator! we asked at the office/store about the lack of gators and they said florida  (Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission??!!)  issued permits for 400 alligators to be  hunted & killed on lochloosa lake alone!  FOUR HUNDRED!!!!  that's  ridiculous!!!!  what a shame!!

if you ever happen to be passing through this area...south of gainesville...north of ocala...in hawthorne, florida. stop by lochloosa lake. visit and stay with the folks at Lochloosa Harbor.  

it's rustic. woodsy. full of wildlife. a great get away.

nature heals...even the toughest of us...

Man's heart away from nature becomes hard.  

~Standing Bear 

stay cool...laura  :]