Home at Last

Well, there really is no place like Kansas..... uh, Kentucky.

I must say that the southwest end of the Bluegrass Parkway was, aside from roads into state parks, the prettiest road I traveled on this journey.  Although, the budding trees all along the Alabama highway made for some competition.  Here's hoping all serious freezes there are past.

Made the last leg of the journey yesterday.  Tess, our Jack Russell, pinned me in the driver's seat for a full 10 minutes before I could escape.  I was just as happy to see her, as well as all the other beautiful beings we share our lives with.

Jennifer, of course, was in the middle of a task -- holding horses for the blacksmith -- for which I was immediately inducted as soon as Tess liberated me.  And, as luck would have it, the horse I had to hold was Keaira, who hates being in the barn and has absolutely no respect for me.  So, it was a challenging welcome-home wrangle for me, that made me laugh after having nothing remotely comparable to challenge me for a month.

My journey completed, this little blog has done its job.  Thanks to Judy Blair for persuading me to do it.  It was like a companion along the way.

 I write tonight from Alabama.  I am somewhere between Montgomery (to the south) and Birmingham (to the north).  My route home has been altered because the starling I was going to rehome died suddenly last night.  Maybe she knew she was going elsewhere and just didn't want to leave her stewardess of nearly a year.  I am saddened by this -- not so much because I was looking forward to this adoption; much, much more so because of the loss to Alex (her stewardess).  There is nothing quite like rescuing a wild animal and keeping it on because it wouldn't be safe to let it free.  My two rescued starlings lived over 12 years; and my grackle rescue (Smokey) continues on at 15.  These are incredible beings, incredible companions.

But back to Alabama.  Ever since I crossed the state line some 200+ miles ago, I have been thinking about what this state means in our US national history.  It was here, in 1955, Montgomery, Alabama that Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to white passenger on a bus, birthing the most important grass roots movement in my lifetime.  I was 9 years old, and somehow word of that rebellion made its way into my awareness.  I knew right then and there that this was good and that the racism I'd been taught was bad.  I was in trouble with my mother for the rest of her life.  

1955

Dec. 1

 (Montgomery, Ala.) NAACP member Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat at the front of the "colored section" of a bus to a white passenger, defying a southern custom of the time. In response to her arrest the Montgomery black community launches a bus boycott, which will last for more than a year, until the buses are desegregated Dec. 21, 1956. As newly elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., is instrumental in leading the boycott.

Read more: Civil Rights Movement Timeline (14th Amendment, 1964 Act, Human Rights Law) — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html#ixzz1nRgPJQr0

1963

April 16

Martin Luther King is arrested and jailed during anti-segregation protests in Birmingham, Ala.; he writes his seminal "Letter from Birmingham Jail," arguing that individuals have the moral duty to disobey unjust laws.

May

During civil rights protests in Birmingham, Ala., Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene "Bull" Connor uses fire hoses and police dogs on black demonstrators. These images of brutality, which are televised and published widely, are instrumental in gaining sympathy for the civil rights movement around the world.

Sept. 15

(Birmingham, Ala.) Four young girls (Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Addie Mae Collins) attending Sunday school are killed when a bomb explodes at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, a popular location for civil rights meetings. Riots erupt in Birmingham, leading to the deaths of two more black youths.

Read more: Civil Rights Movement Timeline (14th Amendment, 1964 Act, Human Rights Law) — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html#ixzz1nRjw0VTy

Peace,

Joan

Still on the Panhandle

Well, the rain continues to be ferocious out here on the Florida/Georgia line.

So, I have decided to stay on at the  KOA campground here, midway across the Florida panhandle until the rain lets up a bit at least, which (I hope) will be by tomorrow morning.  Given the weather and the decision to stop a while longer, it seems to me that this is a good time to reflect on the weeks of travel behind me and the weeks to come.

All things considered, this has been an illuminating month.  Jenifer was barely finished her multiple treatments when I took off.  But she was strong and ready to be on her own, and followed me shortly on the plane.

At home, our neighbor and friend, Sherry Moss, did a seamless take-over of the horses, and looked well after the 5 cats and 4 dogs as well.  We cannot say how much we appreciate her filling in -- she is the PERFECT horse and dog  and bird rescuer, even if the cats  are not crazy about her (she is, after all, a dog trainer by trade, and our cats especially are not so good about discipline).

Ronnie, of course, has also been on board to see to our cats, dogs and birds -- she is the resident stewardess when we are away. We would be lost without her.

Spoke with Jennifer last night, who was very busy herding animals around, sounding completely like her old self -- which is much too busy.  (Ah, it's great to feel ' the normal.').  She will not be happy that I am taking another day to get home because of this rain

XXOO, Joan.

Still heading west

Well, this KOA Kampground (there oughtta be a law about spelling, yes?) on the GA / FL border is like a ghost town.  Not that I mind the quiet; nor do I mind the very large speckled black cat who has adopted me.  She reminds me of our Amelia, and is delaying my getting on the road.

I am, at this point, half way across the Florida panhandle, about to take off for my first AL state park in Mobile.

Here are some pictures I tried to post earlier, but I believe my little MiFi battery gave out.

Jennifer and Janet watching some BEAUTIFUL painted buntings just in the yard of someone Janet discovered ---.

Me helping a ranger show a python skin.  I mentioned this earlier -- there are now thousands of pythons let loose and breeding in the Everglades.  They are. of course, bent on killing off as many a possible of them.  Surely, there must be another way . . .

Off, then to Alabama, where I seriously start north.

South Florida Continued

I think my internet connection is good enough to get these pictures up.  Thanks to Janet and Jennifer for most of these pix.

Leaving Pine Island for Cayo Costa --

Our outbound boat arriving and the tram at Cayo Costa--

The beach at Cayo Costa and one of the cabins --

Still in O'Leno State Park

Despite the fact that I have been up and puttering since shortly after 7 am, I find myself still here in O'Leno State Park at 11 AM.  Check out is at 1 pm, and I just might push it to the limit.  I've spent most of the morning editing my trip plans back home to Anderson County, KY.  This has served as a very good excuse to remain in these lovely  woods . . .

 I guess it's time to confess that I am taking a long way home in order to pick up a starling who needs rehoming.  She's last year's baby, and the young woman who has been keeping her is about to move to CA, with a roommate who says "No birds!" Alex needs a place for her (as usual, baby starlings kept this long are too dependent on people to be released).  She found me through the starling chat list (yes, there is such a thing), and I decided to help out.

Problem is that the bird and current stewardess are in So. Fulton, TN, which is somewhere between Memphis and Paducah, KY -- very, very far to the west in the KY landscape.  So, I am in the process of making my way across the Florida panhandle to Mobile, AL, and north from there.  I have choices about routes, some going through Mississippi.

Unfortunately (I mean no disrespect), my next stop is a KOA Kampground on the GA / FL line, and I find myself reluctant to leave this state park.  KOAs are usually fine, and have everything from wireless to cable.  But they are not in the woods.

At any rate, it is well past time to get on the road.  More soon . . . .

Cayo Costa and Back on the Road

Well, we spent a lovely day yesterday with Janet and Mead going out by boat to Cayo Costa Island.  The boat leaves from the tip of Pine Island (a very funky place, by the way) and takes about an hour to make the trip (although, on the way out, we were assigned to  a smaller, speedier boat than on the way back and made it in less time going out).

The island is really quite beautiful -- folks come out for day trips; but some camp out there, too.  There is a tent-receptive campground, and there are several (8 or 9) very plain cabins with, I think, 4 bunks each.  If you're going to camp, you need to bring almost everything with you -- except ice; they do have that available at the boat landing.

It is a lovely, lovely, peaceful place.

The beach on Cayo Costa is perfectly gorgeous and NOT crowded -- not by a long shot.  One arrives by boat at the landing, and then there is a tram going to the beach and camping/cabin area.  It really is very nice, especially if you want some beautiful Gulf beach far from the crowds.  We lolled about out there for several hours and easily could have stayed longer.  Jen and Mead went swimming and I got too much sun in a half hour.

Some pictures will follow as soon as I have a fast enough connection to send them, partly courtesy of the inspiring Janet James, our generous, hostessing photographer.  I will also include a couple of pictures Janet took of me at Shark Valley, where I was busy helping a volunteer ranger spread out a VERY long python skin to show the crowd.  If you haven't heard, loose pythons (now by the thousands) have become a very, very serious problem in the Everglades.

Sorry for the delay with the pictures.  I write you from O'Leno State Park in High Springs, FL, where my little MiFi mobile hotspot is doing its best to get me any connection at all out here in the woods.

This is a perfectly lovely state park (one of Florida's oldest) and I am enjoying being surrounded by the woods -- SO much nicer (at least according to me) than the RV resorts I was in earlier this trip.

More, then, to follow.

Love,
Joan

Shark Valley

On 2/20, we went to the wonderful Shark Valley, the northern entry to the Everglades.  Despite the name, there are no sharks here -- the park is named after the Shark River.  Jennifer took her bike, Mead and Janet walked around photographing, and I took a splendid tram ride.  Some pictures from Shark Valley --

And here is a little Southern Racer snake I had coffee with the other morning in the backyard --

Some Osprey pictures from Pine Island ---

More tomorrow --

xxoo - J

Carefree 2

Couple of pictures from Janet.  One of a pair of sandhill cranes actually building their nest and one of those adorable burrowing owls.  I should mention that these particular pictures are NOT easy to get!

Carefree

Jennifer and I met up on Feb. 14 and surprised our friend Karen for her birthday -- Karen and Robin were finishing up two weeks with Mead and Janet at Carefree, the women's resort in Ft. Myers.  

We began our own week with Janet and Mead on the 15th.   First thing we did on the 16th was head out to Sanibel Island and the Ding Darling preserve, where we saw some spoonbills and LOTS of photographers.  Janet is a wonderful wildlife photographer, and she has promised to share with me for the blog some of her pictures from her trip this year to Ft. Myers.  In the meantime, these two are mine:

The Carefree Resort is very nice. All women, perfectly groomed, lovely clubhouse and pool.  Jen and I played shuffleboard yesterday and this afternoon we joined in with a group singing and playing guitars and ukuleles.  I could almost keep up with my little uke.  

Some pictures of the house where we are staying and the grounds:

The other night, we joined some friends of Mead and Janet's at a vegan restaurant.  Everything was just delicious, although the service was slow because each meal was prepared fresh and separately by the chef.

Earlier today, we went out to Pine Island, did some shops and galleries, and visited a pair of ospreys that Janet has been watching.  They are mated and she's watching for the eggs to arrive.  Janet also took us to see some burrowing owls that are just too cute.  

Tomorrow, we go to Shark Valley -- the northern entrance to the Everglades.  Then Tuesday to Cayo Costa Island / State Park to loll about for our last day.

Pictures to follow soon!!

Fort Myers and Environs 2

Nestled into my way-too-small-site-without-picnic-table, I have come to like this (ahem) resort quite a lot.  I am, for example, comforted by the fact that the rig dogs don't match.  And the bikes folks are riding are nice, but far from top-of-the-line.  So, it's illuminating for me to discover that my working class roots remain so hardy and functional in my life.

Here are some pictures.

Believe it or not, the folks next to me (southward) are from Jessamine County KY.

Jennifer arrives tomorrow, and I could not be more happy.  We'll be meeting up with Mead and Janet, and settling into a week in the two-bedroom home they've rented for the month at Carefree -- a women's place north of Ft. Myers.  We are eager to see it AND to see them!  We hope for at least one full day of birding with Janet and, otherwise, some R&R, especially for Jen, who has been dealing this week with horses in sub-freezing temperatures.  Ah -- there is no one like her . . .