A Winter Jaunt Continued

Sunset from the Ozello house

 

I'd hoped to be able to paddle down the Weeki Wachee River, while we were there, as we had several times before, but sadly, the concessions in the state park had stopped offering the kayaks and canoe rentals with a pick-up downriver, in Rogers Park. If one wanted to go down the Weeki Wachee, one would have to paddle back upstream. We did that fifteen years ago when we rented a house with kayaks right on the Weeki Wachee, but we remember what it was like to paddle upstream with the six-knot current--no, thanks! We're a lot older now.

The same for an outing on the Chassahowitzka River, the current is too strong for both Herb and I at our age. So,  we contented ourselves with walks around the neighborhood and enjoyed the views from the house. Evenings were particularly lovely, as the mangroves lit up with the reddish light of the setting sun. 

 

Sun setting over the mangroves

 

One afternoon we watched an osprey eating his lunch--the bird had caught a large fish in one claw, and perched on a nearby palm tree trunk, he maneuvered to get a better grasp on his struggling catch. After some time, he finally subdued the fish enough to eat it slowly, relishing each bite!

 

The Osprey's lunch

In the afternoons, I painted my plant specimens indoors--a sprig of Spanish moss (Tsillandia usneoides) that I'd collected turned out very nice. I noticed that my specimen had several dried seed pods, and wondered what the flowers looked like and when they might bloom. I found out the yellow, inconspicuous flowers bloom during spring, from April to around June. This member of the Bromeliad family is so intricate, it took me a long time to figure out its growth pattern well enough to draw it credibly.

 

Spanish Moss (Tsillandia usneoides)

Another afternoon I walked over the causeway and met a gentleman who had waded in the chilly inlet to fish, and caught several. His fishing gear included an electrically-aerated tank to keep the fish alive until he got them home. I photographed him with his catch: three nice-size sea bass and a large mullet.

 

Fisherman on the causeway

Fisherman's catch

 I loved some of the yard decorations and gardens in the neighborhood--only in Florida!

 

An Ozello garden

Prickly Pears and driftwood 

Yard decorations

Our time to leave came too soon, but we still had two more days in Wakulla Springs at the Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Lodge. 

 

Florida Coonties (Zamia integrifolia), a Cycad.

Elena on the back deck.

On the drive north to Wakulla Springs we decided to take a short detour to have lunch in Cedar Key, a small island off the west coast. Friends had told us about it when they'd vacationed there years ago, and I wanted to see it. 

What little we saw was charming, another piece of the Old Florida. I would have loved to have had more time there to explore, but our reservation called for us to arrive at Wakulla around 4 PM, and we were still a ways away. The next time, maybe we'll stop there longer, or even stay for a while.

 

Herb in Cedar Key.

To be continued--Wakulla Springs...

Vacation in Crystal River

Crystal River Lagoon, watercolor, 10" x 5."

I never had a chance to post a single thing during our vacation--there was no internet connection at our rental house, and a few days later our laptop screen failed, so I am just catching up now with these postings from our vacation in Crystal River in Florida.

Herb and I drove off on the morning of Friday January the 14th and made good time on the road, but we didn't make it to Amelia Island where we had hoped to spend the night with friends. We had dinner in Savannah at a nice restaurant--the Sapphire Grill, and then found a hotel on the outskirts of the city off I-95. The next morning was pleasant--the frost that formed on the car overnight began to melt at about the time we got back on the road. The temperature rose to the 50's as we continued south.

We skipped lunch but stopped just outside Gainesville at a colorful fruit stand and bought some yummy-looking pomelos and Honeybell oranges to take to our rental house. We arrived in Crystal River in the late afternoon and managed to open the lock box as instructed, unloaded the car and went back out to find some groceries before settling in.

The house was not quite what I had expected--the view of the lagoon was wonderful but there were many houses around it, that illusion of wilderness I had hoped for was lacking. There was no back yard to speak of, only a somewhat deteriorated dock about 8' wide which faced north and got no sun at this time of the year. I had hoped to have a sunny spot where I could sit outside to paint, but since it was quite chilly at the time, that didn't seem very likely--maybe in a few days if it warmed up.

Spanish Moss, watercolor, 10" x 6."

The next morning I settled for painting from inside looking out the windows (it was really cold and windy). The first one is a small watercolor sketch of the view across the lagoon focusing on tiny section that looks wild. In the afternoon I tried another one, this time of the Spanish moss on the live oaks in front of the house. As the sun was going down I started to be tormented by no-see-ums or some other biting insect and realized I had forgotten to bring insect repellent, so I had to rush through this one to finish it. Anyway, here they are, for what they're worth.