The Enigma of Returning

After a long hiatus I'm back again. Changes abound.

This past weekend the Clog-wife and I had some memorable experiences. We lunched with my daughters prior to their sojourn in Athens and Crete with their mother. We hiked in San Felasco Hammock and saw a 4-point whitetail in velvet, and hiked at O'leno State Park where we saw a 4' garfish; a young 3'-4' alligator who still had the orange-ish bars/stripes on his tail; and had a close encounter with a red-shouldered hawk who swooped through the woods at eye-level just 20 feet in front of us.

We attended the 2007 annual meeting/reunion of the local chapter of the National Association of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Alumni at O'Leno. What a vibrant bunch of old folks they were! My Grandfather Baldwin served in the CCC in 1934 in Idaho. This being the Fred White/Gator chapter in north central Florida, and well-attended by elderly southern ladies, it was a treat to sample the great southern cooking during the pot-luck after the business had been attended to: Fried chicken, creamed corn, pole beans and ham, coleslaw, and some marvelous desserts.

CCC, Florida, whitetail deer, alligator, hawk