a dragonfly resting on shovel handle out back.
Buckeye Butterfly
☼
every time i hear the name of that river...the Suwannee,
i can hear ♪ ♪ 'Way down upon the Suwannee River...' ♪ ♪ playing in my head.
(well...it's better than hearing dueling banjos from 'Deliverance'....huh?!)
on saturday, we went for a drive...only about a 45 minute drive...
to where the old Lake City RR bridge crosses the Suwannee River.
we were hoping the water would be low enough to get down and wander
the river basin...in search of old bones, artifacts...cool stones...rocks.
BUT WAIT! let me back track a little.
on the way up there, along Hwy 441...just before you get to small town Alachua...
we passed a local produce stand that's been there forever!
THAT DAY i had my camera with me...and sam did a U-ey
so i could snap pictures of these misspelled signs!
ACEPTING is missing a 'C'.
(EBT stands for Electronic Benefits Transfer. it's Florida's government
food stamp assistance)
fresh cut collards, mustards...
and don't forget to TURNUP the volume!?
(turnips)
☼
OK...back on the road...we made it to the Suwannee...
off US Hwy 41, just south of White Springs.
as we hoped, the water was pretty low!
usually all the rock you see here...is under water!
we walked along the exposed rock...limestone...
peering into the holes...or cavities,
which have worn away over time from the rushing river.
as the water churns up the bottom...small stones...artifacts...debris...
can get trapped in these crevices in the rock.
the Suwannee River rises in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia...
and runs south for over 240 miles...until it empties into the
Gulf of Mexico in the small town of Suwannee, Florida.
(Slider Turtle soaking up the sun)
the Suwannee River's DARK..tea colored water...is because it flows through
forested swamps, picking up decaying vegetation.
(a Little Blue Heron...also enjoying the sun & running water)
(weathered wood at the edge of the water)
(looking under a large limestone rock)
(a damsel fly)
so with heavy pockets...we headed back to the truck.
we didn't find any old bones...or artifacts. but we did pick up
a few OLD shells! SO old in fact...they're like rock!
we found petrified wood...fossilized shells and coral...from long ago...
we found petrified wood...fossilized shells and coral...from long ago...
when most of florida was covered by the earth's oceans!
☼
on our way back to the main road we passed bunches of Coreopsis wildflowers.
the Coreopsis is Florida's state wildflower!
you can see these bright yellow blooms all along the roadsides and in fields.
☼
heading south down Hwy 41...toward home...
we passed some florida long horn cattle! well, probably originally from texas...
sam did another U-ey so i could get a couple of pictures!
...and a here's a Gopher Tortoise digging his burrow...on the side of the road...
Gopher Tortoises belong to a group of land tortoises that originated
in North America 60 million years ago!
in florida they're considered endangered and threatened.
☼
back home...we put our collections together and rinsed everything off.
look closely at this piece of coral (you can enlarge).
it amazes me when i hold something like this...to feel it in my hands...
thinking about how old it is...and what the earth was like when this
coral was alive...in the ocean.
and all the little long skinny pieces...
like stone...but what are they? petrified wood? coral?
whatever! i could do this every day!
hike...explore...search for treasures...
but we need to pay the bills. :)
thanks for stopping by...and wandering...
“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”
~Winne the Pooh, AA Milne
stay cool.
have a safe journey & enjoy the ride.
:] laura
OH YEAH...REMINDER...i made a MISSPELLED SIGN page...up there
at the top...under the header. IF YOU HAVE A sign pic...email it to me with
where it was taken...and i'll add it to the page with credit to YOU!
☼
((i'm going to try and get on here and post again...SOON!
i have so many pictures i've taken around the yard lately...
snake, woodpecker, hawk, more assassin bugs, frog, butterflies, spider...
my camera is out of breath!))
p e a c e
lk
