Easy Wednesday

Wednesday April 18, 2012
Site 25 Lithia Springs

 

Just after sun up, this morning, I take my beach chair and head down the barely visible path that I discover goes from the back of the site, opposite the fire ring, down to the river.

 

 

 

The path opens up in places as I walk. It is a quiet morning.  No one  is up yet.  The temperature is cool and light.  I feel as though I might be all alone in the world.  The path, as paths do, draws me on even though I know what is around the next curve.  Still I feel like an explorer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I come to the river, climb down the bank from the trail and sit right next to the water. 

 

 

 

 

A few birds call, I feel a gentle breeze.  A truck’s back up beep beep carries a long way.  It sounds in the far distance and then thankfully is gone.  The trees are perfectly reflected in the river’s dark water until a fish barely breaks the surface creating concentric circle rings expanding outward. 

 

 

 

 

 

Thin cirrus clouds lightly float over a soft blue sky.  The live oaks and cypress lining the river banks look stately dressed in spanish moss which waves gently in the breeze.  All this against the blue, blue sky.

 

 

The river moves ever so slowly on its long way to Tampa Bay.  A loud splash breaks the silence and I jump.  A mullet.  He jumps again and again.  Big circles ripple the water.  I wish I’d had my camera out.  I might have gotten his second or third jump.  But then, I think…. I wouldn’t have “seen” it, only through the lens.  Only the picture of it and I’m glad I'm sitting here in the quiet watching and waiting.

It’s a great way to start the day.  Now I wish I’d come out before dawn.   The water is low and there is a fallen cyprus right in front of my chair.  Looks like the perfect place for sunning turtles.  If I could just sit here quietly all day, would they come?

 

 

I do sit quietly and wonder what’s beyond the thick undergrowth on the river’s opposite side.  How did John Muir walk through this impenetrable habitat on his 1000 Mile Walk to the Gulf from Indiana to just north of where I am today.  He came in the earliest years of the 20th century when much of this area was sparsely settled.    I’ve read his book several times and recently read it aloud to David.  We marveled at the beauty of the language and the strength of character and determination it took to make such a trip all on foot.

 

 

These quiet mornings on my off running days give me a very different start to my day.  But I’ve been here quite a while and now I’m hungry.  Maybe pancakes for breakfast. 

 

I walk back the path slowly, enjoying the very first glimpse of Winnona through the trees.  This has been an excellent morning.

 

 

 

In the  afternoon, as things heat up, we bike over to the spring. It makes me smile, it’s lovely. I like to go first over to the more natural end for a while.  There are a lot of fish.  They nibble toes and fingers.

 

 

 

 

 

Today is midweek.  The swimmers numbers will start picking up tomorrow.   We don’t have the spring to ourselves as we might have had we come out before noon but there are only a few of us and we are all enjoying the water.  The spring waters always stun me with their clarity.

 

 

 

 

 

More doctor appointments tomorrow. 
But today is a lovely Easy Wednesday.