Most people concentrate on the sky. But the shadows are just as beautiful. How satisfying it is to watch the light wrapping its shawl around trees and fence posts, barns and docks.
That's what I love about old Florida. The shadows tell a story, and it's not one of sadness. There are horse farms and still, muddy marshes supporting rotten boat bottoms with grasses growing through them. Soft hills carpeted with pasture display classic oaks like dancers on a pedestal.
North central Florida sprinkled woodlands across my weekend. They were laced with dogwoods--just past their prime and half-dressed with white flowers--a sight for the eyes a little too used to tropical scenes.
My mind has been too full of things. It's felt like French onion soup oozing over the edges of a mug that's too small. I've needed some serious nature, and nature that's more than 30 minutes from home. This part of the state feels like a more temperate zone--less beachy, with trees that actually lose their leaves in the winter, and therefore, shine zealous crops of lime green growth when the spring hits the air.
I feel renewed. Cedar Key sightseeing. Gainesville hiking. Ocala horseback riding. Strung together with two lane county roads, they have each seen their share of college students, visitors from out of state, families backed by generations born in a state where surprisingly few originate, and other characters of travel and home.
I regret my camera didn't make the treck, yet I see through a clearer heart lens of really being in the moment when I'm not concentrating on a perfect image to savor for later.
Shadows--whether building with the illumination of a new day or the fading of a day that's been filled with experience--lay themselves out on the land and reach to me. I feel their stories and the sun shining on them, an observer yet somehow part of it all.
10 comments:
You were WAY up north! ;-) I'm glad you had fun!
Swooooon: you are the love child of Walt Whitman and Willa Cather (if it's possible for two dead gay writers to spawn such a beast!)
I will be at the seaside far from home this weekend. I too anticipate some transformative moments amongst nature, when I have dragged myself away from the bar.
Sounds blissful!
Are your batteries recharged? Do you want to get together soon?
Oh how restorative! This is fabulous. :)
I've never heard Florida described this way and had no idea. I guess I'll think of the state a little differently now. Maybe I'll even visit one day. Lovely post.
Cedar Key, Gainesville and Ocala... can't beat it. Now you're talking Baja Georgia.
Very lyrical and beautiful, Gropy. So glad you were able to get away and enjoy not only your beloved nature, but your beloved D-Man too. xoxoxox, rl
Artist.
Your poetic description surely captures the part of Florida I have come to know and love, the part I can't explain to those who only see Florida's touristy things. You're right about the camera. It's for sharing visual impressions with others, including some future self. But the sense of deep joy that comes from meeting nature without that intervention will stay with us for a lifetime, even sans photos. Thank you for sharing these inspiring thoughts.
Even without a camera, your words portrayed it beautifully. Shadows can be captivating...I was fascinated with them on a recent hike.
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