[at-l] Weekend Wanderings

[ATnavi@aol.com (ATnavi@aol.com)]

I, too, spent a weekend outdoors, and was rather shocked last night to come 
home to 500+ emails since Thurs noon!

Friday was my Mom's 60th birthday, so to celebrate that landmark, I drove her 
and other family 100 miles or so to Tarpon Springs, Florida's major Greek 
community. We spent the afternoon wandering the waterfront in an icy breeze, 
browsing through shops, dining on horiatiki, tzatziki, kalamari, and pita, 
and enjoying the wonderful mousse-filled pastries in the bakeries.

On Saturday, she wanted to do a hike with me, so I went with something very 
short and sweet: just 1.5 miles, but a beautiful walk along a tropical stream 
bubbling out of several large springs, where eels nestle in the eelgrass. We 
saw a baby fox squirrel sprawled out on a branch. At the end of the hike is 
another large spring in shades of aquamarine, where turtles drift through the 
depths. 

On Sunday, I went on a more serious hike: 7.5 miles through a little-known 
state forest, Goethe, west of where my family lives. Unfortunately, the trail 
is shared with horses, and was roughed up in places. And it poured, big time. 
I found out my lightweight Columbia jacket doesn't cut it in a real rain. But 
it was great to be out in a quiet forest, and despite the rain, we saw 
wildlife. A fox squirrel dashed across the trail, a swallow-tailed kite 
soared overhead, and turkeys ran for cover as we approached.

Florida is wonderful in winter!
Cheers, Navigator