Monday, April 2, 2018

Monday, April 2, 2018

Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2006. Mattie was four years old. I took Mattie to the Reston Zoo. This was one of Mattie's favorite zoos. Mainly because it was small, not crowded, and provided a very hands on experience for children. At the zoo, Mattie could ride ponies, take a wagon ride to see ostriches, and even feed goats and sheep. All of these things were fun for Mattie and in the process I experienced things I never did before too. Mattie and I had different interests and as his mom, I had to learn to find and do things that engaged his mind. So in the process of raising Mattie, I developed an appreciation for being outside and exploring nature. 


Quote of the day: A rebirth out of spiritual adversity causes us to become new creatures. ~ James E. Faust


Since Friday, I have been on a Segway tour, taken a boat assisted Kayak tour of the 10,000 islands, went to the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, and today went on a two hour kayak tour of the everglades. I would call this an adventuresome trip. My lifetime friend, Karen, wrote to me and said that even my vacations make her tired. Which made me laugh!!! What I do know is Mattie would have loved every single adventure we have gone on so far. 

We went on an Everglades Adventure Tour today. Our guide was Joe, a man who has basically be giving tours of the Everglades for over 12 years. This tour company is family owned and operated, and I like supporting family businesses. The Shealy family is among the last of the traditional Gladesmen. For 4 generations they have lived in the Big Cypress Swamp.

The company doesn't have tandem kayaks. Joe was nice enough to offer that I ride in his canoe, so that I did not have to paddle if I did not want to. I agreed to this arrangement for two reasons. It is hot and terribly sunny, and I did not know if I had the ability to row for two hours straight in this weather. Peter is an experienced crewmen, so I knew he would be fine. I had a great time with Joe as he had a gentle and kind demeanor and was very knowledgeable about the Everglades. 

Peter observing what I called alligator alley. We saw more alligators in the wild today then I have ever seen. What stunned me was the alligators weren't interested in us. They observed us, but did not approach. Joe said that alligators typically don't bother people unless they have been trained to come to boats for food. Which is why people aren't encouraged to feed alligators. If alligators do approach boats, then the tour company calls animal control to manage that alligator. Basically remove it because it will be dangerous to humans. 

This is the type of water we were on today. It is very shallow, less then two feet deep and these canals are ALL formed by rain water. This is their dry season, so this is the remaining water left from the summer and fall. Which should give you an appreciation for how much rain they get in rainy season! 

It was like floating on glass! So smooth and SO SO quiet and peaceful. Not sure I have ever heard such silence before.  

The canals are all lined with trees. A mixture of cypress, oaks, and maples. It was remarkable to see bromeliads and other air plants growing all over the bark of trees. Some were even flowering.  

Do you see all the alligators here? There were at least 8 gators and of all sizes. Apparently April is alligator mating season. They mate once a year and can produce up to 50 eggs a year. Not all of the eggs make it, as they can get snatched and eaten by bigger birds. 

Can you picture this??? We were floating along, feet from these alligators! The eerie part was when we saw just the two eyes of alligators staring at us in the water, with the rest of their bodies submerged.  

We passed this mother osprey on her nest with her babies. The screech of these birds is recognizable! You can hear them from quite a distance. 

This was father osprey looking and monitoring the nest with the mom and babies. Apparently osprey are monogamous. Ironically the birds mate once a year and then the father and mother go in different directions during the winter. But always return to the SAME PLACE and nest each spring to mate again. 

A close up of an immature night heron. He is hard to see, as he is very brown and blends in with the bark of trees. 

A great blue heron. 

This is what seeing a gator was like for us today. They were floating alongside us. They have their hang outs along the canal and Joe had names for many of them. One of the male gators he named Goliath. Goliath is about 14 feet long. We did not see him today, but I felt the other gators were quite formidable. 

Look closely! There are FOUR baby alligators in and among the green foliage. 

We came back to the hotel to regroup, as we have had very early mornings the past couple of days. When I look outside on our balcony, I see hotel guests parked on a chair by the pool. Most of them there the whole day. Baking in the sun. Peter and I like seeing the sun, but not baking in the sun. But besides that main difference, I feel like people have access to such natural beauty so close by and don't take advantage of it. I wonder why they aren't venturing out and showing it to their children? It made Peter and me reflect on what this trip would have looked like if Mattie were with us. Mattie wasn't one for sitting still, or hanging out at a pool for more than an hour. I always admired families who could park themselves for hours in one place. I did not have a child like that, and I suppose it is good that Mattie wasn't like this because he would have missed out on so much. In true Mattie fashion, he was always busy, engaged, and exploring, and of course we were along for the ride with him.