Getting Into the Way Back Machine

In a distant past, (about a month ago), that seems like only yesterday, I got the opportunity to take a special voyage to a place I hold most dear to my heart.  My finding Cumberland Island and the natural wonders which existed there, led to my discovery of Amelia Island just next door, resulting in a truly life changing event for us.   One of my friends, Lynne, called me one busy afternoon at the gallery and said "I have a ticket to Cumberland Island tomorrow but I can't use it.  Would you like to take it?"  Thinking that it was one of the day trips from St. Mary's on the Park Service Ferry, I politely declined because my knee would not hold up to the amount of walking that trip would require.  Later that evening I got a note from Dickie Anderson who does the "High Tide Women's Weekends", saying how nice it was that Lynne thought of me first to take her place.  The "light bulb" finally lit up in my brain and I realized that this year Dickie was highlighting the National Parks in the area and this was no ordinary trip to Cumberland Island.  With shaking hands I grabbed the phone, praying I was not too late, and called Lynne, apologizing if I had awakened her, and asked if the trip was still available.  YES, YES, I WANT TO GO!!!

Lynne had feared rain and the heat since she is still recouping from a recent bout with some health issues.  The morning started out to be beautiful as I showed up early, not wanting to miss the boat, with my pack, my new orthopedic inserts in my walking shoes, and raring to go.  The recent rains had mushrooms growing galore all over the island and these were the first thing I saw as I walked toward the docks.  In the early morning light I could not pass them up without a few shots to start off the day.  It was a 70's flashback when mushrooms were a big subject for me to paint.  I'm sure there are still many of  my mushroom paintings hanging on walls in the Chattanooga area.  That was the time when framing in barn wood, reading Foxfire, and Adele Davis's dietary books (who lost favor when she died of cancer) which all told us how to live simply, eat healthy, and be environmentally friendly, the new hot ticket in living.  The dawning of the Green age; and you thought Al Gore invented it...

A perfect morning to climb aboard a boat and go on a very excellent adventure.  It was so calm it was almost as if I wasn't sure which was the upside of the photograph as I looked back toward the street on which my gallery sits and thought how great to just walk away for a day.  [Thank you to Lynne and to Bruce for making it possible.]  I whiled away the time waiting for the official Cumberland Island Park Service Ferry to show up at OUR dock,  enjoying the reflections through the camera's lens.

It was indeed a perfect morning for a cruise.  I suppose Gilligan thought the same thing when he set sail for that short cruise that ran through many seasons.  Although Cumberland Island is just a short distance as the boat sails and the crow flies it usually seems much further away since actual landing on the island means a trip to St. Marys and making reservations on the Park Service Ferry or spending the big bucks to go with Greyfield Inn which leaves from our island.

It was almost too calm as the water became a perfect mirror and I like the abstract in the water not realism.  Come on now, give me a wave or two.

Finally a boat came by and gave me some interesting images to capture.  Some day I will have an exhibit of all the wonderful things I see in the water.

With lots of bigwigs from Washington with Park Service affiliations on board and with women who had come from near and far for this trip, most were eager for a top side view as we left the harbor.  Dickie had outdone herself in arranging this great one of a kind event.  So thankful was I, to be able to be on board.  My yellow pack and camera bag sit in the foreground.  I should not have bothered.  Every thing was provided from water to a pack in which to carry our "stuff".

At that time of the morning there were many of the wild horses of Cumberland Island out along the grassy beach areas, as we paralleled the shoreline.

Our first stop was Dungeness, the home of Lucy Carnegie and her family, previously owned by and the home of the Phineas Greene's.  We strolled with the very informative Park Ranger down Coleman Avenue as we listened to the stories of the people who had lived here from the knowledgeable park ranger.  The canopy of Live Oak Trees and Spanish Moss fills you with expectations of what might have awaited you beyond the turn in the road as you traveled once upon a time in Miss Lucy's carriage as her guest.

Lots of wild turkeys were scattering as we interrupted their quiet morning of dining on the lawn bugs.

I had forgotten where this wonderful old fountain was, while on a previous trip and was determined to not miss it this time.  It was located on the backside of the oldest remaining building on the island, a nice tabby built by the Greene's who had built the first Dungeness.  This building had housed the tutors for the children who lived at Dungeness.  It had also served as an office for the tutor who stayed on to be Miss Lucy's right hand man after her husband died fairly early in life.

In the museum at the dock, which is actually the old Ice House for the estate, you can see the pictures of the mansion when it was a real live home.  It is impressive now but must have been a true wonder for its time.  The Carnegies had the latest in technology, and when only 7% of the country had electricity, they were generating their own here in their private island paradise.

Since there was so much to do it was time to re-board the boat much too soon, but we had a lunch date with the folks at Greyfield Inn.  It was not something anyone wanted to miss, either, as walking around the ruins, we had worked up an appetite.  This horse was enjoying a morning brunch of Spanish Moss, which it was harvesting off a downed tree.  A glimpse into part of their diet on the island.

These two were grazing on the sparse grass found growing on the sand flat.  I loved the twisty gnarly branch forms from the trees which have been uprooted by the eroding shoreline.

This was my favorite of the horses I saw.  Such a pretty pattern.  The horses through the years have mixed with those from the all the families who lived there.  My friend Cindy who lived here, and whose grandmother was Lucy Carnegie, can tell you whose horses influenced some of the colors especially the ones with the white blazes on their faces.  Sometimes a horse just gets through the fence and spreads his charms around the whole island.

A tour of the main floor of the house, now Greyfield Inn, which was given to the daughter, Lucy, as a gift.  The library here is filled with rare first edition books, some signed, which you are free as a guest to browse through.  The lunch was substantial and pleasant as the whole group assembled to chat, get acquainted, and pose for a group photo.  That's me with the red shirt, hat and water bottle in her hand sitting on the first step underneath the rather large flower pot on the right.

We had 20 minutes to go until the boat would leave us but I just had to walk with a few hardier souls to get a glimpse of the beach I had for so long loved.  This is the Main Road, which goes from end to end on the island and which I have hiked many times with my backpack loaded with a weeks worth of food on my back, and then later on my old three wheeler with Bruce once we found a cottage we could rent.  I stood remembering that first walk on my very first trip as four of us, 3 women friends and one male, when the sounds of the Armadillos would startle us as they rattled the stiff Palmetto fronds scurrying away when we passed by.  We couldn't see them and was not sure what was making the noise.

My knee was reminding me that I still had to walk back, and it was quickly nearing departure time.  Thankfully a fellow came along in one of the golf cart vehicles from Greyfield and I was relieved and thankful to accept a ride on his chariot right to the dock.  Yea, saved the knee for another time.

The next stop on the tour was Plum Orchard behind which we had found our little Pink Cottage retreat and left the tent camping behind.  Since it is about 7 miles up the island I don't often get the chance to revisit.  On the way we had to retrace our path a good bit to be able to access the river channel, with the large ferry   The channel took us very close to the Kings Bay Nuclear Submarine base.  The large tall structure on the top left photo is a gizmo (very technical words so don't get overwhelmed) through which the subs pass through on their return to discharge the static electricity that has built up on the outside of the vessel due to the friction of the high speed with which they travel through the water.  They have to do this so they don't create a spark when they refuel.  As luck would have it on such a perfect day a sub was in port.  Of course we also were being evaluated, but  as a result, able to get up close and personal with the gun boat which was guarding the base.

Plum Orchard was the largest of the homes Lucy built for her children.  They were all given the choice of a house or cash, with most of the girls opting to take the money and run.  This is one of the most beautiful, which the daughter-in-law added another wing onto, after it was built, needing more space, -for just the two of them and staff of course.  It has over 100 rooms although I was not sure what was considered a room.  I think the count had to have included closets and hallways as rooms, because it doesn't seem that big to me.  Of course it has an attic with living quarters for some of the staff which we were not able to see.  That means 4 floors of rooms including the large and cavernous basement which we were also privileged to explore.  There was an area the size of a room just to accommodate the motors for the refrigerator which was in the adjoining area.  Things were not so compact in the early days of electrical technology.

Because they could afford to do so it was tastefully furnished with fine furnishings and elegant touches like Tiffany Lamps and hand painted/stenciled wallpapers everywhere.  To me the warmest part of the house was this cozy fireplace which you stepped down into, located in the foyer area,  It would have been very warm and cozy with a roaring fire on those cool damp winter days.  Great touches like wood paneling in the Gun Room to give it a very masculine touch with billiard tables, a baby grand, and built in gun cabinets along with the tortoise shell Tiffany lamps in the picture above.  A great place to hang out at the end of a hard day hunting and prowling the beaches.  Even an elevator with hydraulic lift which later came in handy as the Carnegie son developed a muscle condition which left him in a wheelchair.  What had been a luxury became a necessity for navigating to the upstairs bedroom area.

The only time I have seen a horse in this condition on the island.  The Park Service lets the horses remain on the island on the condition that they do not have to do anything to keep them going.  This means if they get sick they do not help.  Sometimes a stallion will loose his place as head of the herd and is exiled.  He will then soon die of loneliness and this could be the case here.

There is a fresh water pond just behind the house, which I had remembered always had lots of birds.  That was back when I didn't know the names of our birds.  The tree was filled with lots of very skittish Great Whites, White Ibis (young ones still brown). a Green Heron, some baby Alligators, and mosquitoes the size of birds and ticks to boot which took their toll on me and I did not stay long.  It was pretty grown up and one of the longest snakes I have ever seen in the wild had run into this pond on an earlier trip back in the old days.  I like snakes but I didn't want to prowl around in their house uninvited.  Water snakes are noted to not be real friendly to such intrusions.

It came time for us to turn homeward.  I usually do not feel our paper mills pollute the air but from this distance I am rethinking my stand on this.  True we do not get the smells on the island associated with papermills of earlier times, but when I saw the clear pristine skies from this distance and the plume of low lying yellowish haze spreading to the Southwest from Rayonier and gray smoke coming directly on the North end from the Rock Tenn plant I was very disheartened.  I don't think they were both just having a bad day.  Now come on folks, even if your pollution doesn't stay on our island, it's still going out there.  Let's clean up our act!!!  Even on cloudy days...

The Marshes were at their prettiest green and the horses were enjoying it as if they had been turned out into a new pasture.

Only a few of us still headed for the upper deck on the journey back home.  There was wine and treats inside the cabin underneath and some very tired ladies to enjoy it.  The trip was exhausting but wonderful at the same time.  None of the buildings we toured had the new fangled air conditioning so perspiration had taken its toll zapping our energy.  As we rehydrated only a few rain drops added to the mix from the gray clouds overhead.  All around were the perfectly beautiful billowing clouds I love.  I took many photographs of them that day.  The next day one of my other friends from Jacksonville who had gone on the trip came to say she was disappointed that I had not made it to the mixer and fashion show later that night.  I said, "are you kidding?  I was sound asleep by 8 o'clock."  Am I getting old?

The Icky What????

Our Eagles on the island have fledged but here is your chance to watch one up close and personal in the Midwest which is nesting on a later schedule.  They are still sitting on eggs and its all live.  Go to Eagle Cam.  (Hummingbirds just hatched, you might check them too)

From Amelia Island, on down to Ichetucknee Spring???
(I didn't know, but from here on, we all shall.)

When there are shuttle launches I always try to head to the beach because the novelty of being able to see the space shuttle launch with my own eyes is much more thrilling then watching it on the television set.  My son has a condo just next to the launch site, across the river, but I have only seen one launch from there.  It can be very disappointing to drive 3 hours only to have the launch scrubbed and I've done that.

Instead it is thrilling to me to see it by walking two blocks from my house.  A lot of launches are much more exciting then others and this one was not one of the better ones.  It depends on the trajectory and the haze.  The flower beds at the Ritz which I pass as I walk to the beach are a nice show.  The parking lot was full when I arrived with others wanting to witness history.

If it heads Northeast we get a pretty good view especially if it gets high enough to catch the sun's rays.  This time it disappeared shortly after this shot was taken.  I miss some friends, Jim and Carol Lindeman, who used to camp here and were involved in the space program in its infancy.  Jim was one of the few engineers working during those formative years, retiring about the time the shuttle program came to be.  I loved hearing his stories about that time.

Even though the launch was less then spectacular other airborne creatures, who gave man the idea that flying was possible, were putting on quite a show for me.

I had a chance at the end of the week to run down to the Marina and since I figured everyone was tired of Shrimpboat shots I decided to move more to the North and try for some shots of the Pelicans.  Sometimes every post is claimed by a bird but tonight only one Pelican was there.  As he preened and prepared for the night on his perch I moved into position to let him become the featured star in my next feature shot.  We were all alone so time for a little creative fun.

He seems to be saying, "Not enough time today?  Here let me hold it back for a while, so you can catch up." Who says you can't stop time.  My Pelican friend says he has everything under control.  Its almost like Bruce's saying, "I'm going to live forever.  So far so good."

The friend, Doug, who had shared his Bald Eagle nest last week offered me another adventure I couldn't resist.  We quickly, after checking the weather, put together a kayak trip for my day off on Monday.  He couldn't believe that I had never heard of Ichetucknee Spring after living in Florida for 10 years.  After all it is part of the State Park system.  With the bribe of "I will steer and paddle and all you will have to do is shoot pictures" I said "count me in".

We each rounded up a few friends and headed out at the ungodly hour of 6am on Monday morning.  I don't even get out that early for my Sea Turtles.  I invite you to jump in the kayak with Doug and me and tag along as we float down the Ichetucknee Spring River.  It is located in N. Central Florida near Gainesville, home of the either beloved or hated Florida Gators.  There were not Gators, reptile or human, in these waters with temperatures in the 70's it was too cold.  The waters of the Icky are fed by freshwater springs with water which has traveled via the Aquifer from lands north, water that has spent many hundreds of years traveling to get there.

This rare water plant needs the clean water of a spring to survive.  For now this beautiful Flower "Spring-run Spider Lily" bloomed all along our kayak route.  We spent a lot of time trying to capture the best photo possible but each one seemed more beautiful then the last one.  They look very much like our land variety Spider Lily.

Overhead, Spring was getting launched with Redbuds, Maple blooms and bare limbs with just the tiny early bits of green starting to show on them.  The Cypress were totally bare and the grasses in the water's edge were in their early stages of growth, giving us a wonderful view of the Cypress knees all along the water's edge.  Our fearless guide informed us that as summer passes, by Fall those water plants will be 6 foot high.  I think that Spring must be the best time because the higher grass would block a lot of the view we were seeing.

During the summer season the river is clogged with hundreds of tubing enthusiasts.  Those of you who remember this from college days at the University, it is now alcohol, plastic bottle, snack debris, and "Pot" free.  Much money, time, and volunteer efforts went into cleaning up all the mess left from those times and now rules are in place to prevent another round of garbage from being left there. The shedding Redbud trees were making a carpet of lavender on top of the green Duck Weed underneath.

The underwater plants were swaying beneath us, seeming to tell us the way as we both followed the flow of the stream.  The spots of clear white sand allowing us to realize just how clear this water was.  Fish and turtles swam underneath us.  This pure clean water has been crystal clear for all this time but change is happening and it may become clogged with slimy algae like many of its neighboring spring fed rivers.  It is being polluted by fertilizers that people feel they must put on their lawns, golf courses, and crops.  The sandy soil here quickly leaches these chemicals through and into the water causing algae to grow and gradually clog the river with stringy yucky algae.  These same fertilizers are also polluting the Gulf coast causing more damage to wildlife, including dolphins, by causing algae growth and red tides to form depleting the oxygen in the water and allowing all kinds of bad things to thrive.

The area here reminded me of my hometown area in Northeast Tennessee which also has a large deposit of Limestone and lots of underground caves.  The difference is that being so high above sea level those caves are not filled with water.  This was the first time I have seen these little wood's Violets since I left North Georgia.  I have told people that we don't have rocks in Florida but I was mistaken.  Here there are rocks the underneath surface is honeycombed with them.

Roots showed off interesting formations as they reached for the water, in, around, and through the rocky surfaces.

There is not a real need to paddle only steer as the current moves you at a nice easy pace.  The rocks in this part of Florida are a porous limestone whose holes resemble a sponge.  The limestone is eroded away leaving great water filled caverns underneath the earth.  Depletion of the water table will often cause a sinkhole to form when it collapses without the support of the water volume inside.  This can happen with overuse of the water from the Aquifer.

I Love the play of the bright sunlight on the spring green against the dark shape of the tree limb.

As we continue on down the river, many springs fed into it causing the river to grow in volume and width.  As it flattened out we had more grassy areas where the trees were not so dense, and birds became more easily seen along the water's edge.

These branches seem to be sitting on a dense second set of roots at the water level.  Hungry also for the water provided by the pure stream.

Another Spring bubbles to the surface, further feeding water into the stream increasing the volume.  These pieces of wood look like mythical animals guarding the entrance to the underground cavern from which the water flows.

Pretty spots of nature are found at every turn of the stream.  Our trusty river guide points out all the spring heads and interesting features he doesn't want us to miss.  I felt like the Queen of the Nile with my own personal paddler to row me along giving me the freedom to shoot to my heart's content, even paddling me in position for special shots.  Wow, what luxury.

Tiny white Eel Weed blooms on the surface at many places.

This pretty elegant fellow sat very still as we floated and snapped our way by.  I thought he would stay in place giving our next boat a chance to get close-ups of him also but...

...in a blue blur he was gone.

He turned up on the other side of the stream trying to make like a weed so we wouldn't see him.

Overhead a Vulture soared and I did not remember those white wings on ours.  If this is a different species then I am sure my birding friends will help me out here.  Ahead more interesting things to explore as we lazily floated along taking it all in.  Doug was able, with his knowledge of the place, to tell us what would be ahead and why this or that is like it is.  It is nice to have someone along with this kind of input so that you don't just go ahead blindly missing some of the important spots, which sometimes meant paddling against the current.  Our thanks to our fearless leader for including us all in his play day in what proved to be one great playground. ...more to come on the Icky as the kayak trip continues...