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| Sanhill Cranes |
Note to self: next time The Way Eye See It heads off somewhere, do some research! Actually, I thought I'd researched Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park fairly well, but somehow I didn't absorb the fact that it's humongous. Our "ah ha" moment, as Anna called it, came when we climbed the park's 50 foot observation tower and surveyed nothing but vast land - 21,000 acres worth.
One of the reasons I wanted to go is because PPPSP is a gateway to the Great Florida Birding Trail, and, for that reason, I assumed we'd see birds galore. We actually did see quite a few birds on the 2.5 hour drive over; sandhill cranes pecking in the dirt by the road, cattle egrets on and around cattle, and a sweet flash of swallowtail kite flying over us on I-75.
PPPSP is Florida's first state preserve, established in 1971, and it's even designated as a National Historic Landmark. Artist and naturalist William Bartram called it "the Great Alachua Savannah" when he visited in 1774, and it's pretty remarkable to think of how little has been changed by human hands since then. In fact, I'll let Bartram himself describe what he saw (and what we saw, minus the wildlife) :
"Now on a sudden opens to view an enchanting scene, the Great Alachua Savannah. Behold a vast plain of water in the middle of a pine forest 15 miles in extent and near 50 miles in circumferance, verged with green level meadows, in the summer season beautifully adorned with jeting points and pormentorys of high land. The prospect is greatly beautiful by the prodigious numbers of wild fowl of various kinds, such as cranes, herons, biterns, pluvers, coots, vast herds of cattle, horses, and deer which we see far distant, in detachments over the vast plain. The upper regions of the air contributes to this joyfull scene. The silver plum'd heron, early in the morning, hastening to their fisheries, croud the watery plain. The sonorrous stork and whooping crains proclaim the near approaches of the summer heat, and decend from the skies in musical squadrons themselves over the wide green."
PPPSP is Florida's first state preserve, established in 1971, and it's even designated as a National Historic Landmark. Artist and naturalist William Bartram called it "the Great Alachua Savannah" when he visited in 1774, and it's pretty remarkable to think of how little has been changed by human hands since then. In fact, I'll let Bartram himself describe what he saw (and what we saw, minus the wildlife) :
"Now on a sudden opens to view an enchanting scene, the Great Alachua Savannah. Behold a vast plain of water in the middle of a pine forest 15 miles in extent and near 50 miles in circumferance, verged with green level meadows, in the summer season beautifully adorned with jeting points and pormentorys of high land. The prospect is greatly beautiful by the prodigious numbers of wild fowl of various kinds, such as cranes, herons, biterns, pluvers, coots, vast herds of cattle, horses, and deer which we see far distant, in detachments over the vast plain. The upper regions of the air contributes to this joyfull scene. The silver plum'd heron, early in the morning, hastening to their fisheries, croud the watery plain. The sonorrous stork and whooping crains proclaim the near approaches of the summer heat, and decend from the skies in musical squadrons themselves over the wide green."
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View of PPPSP from the observation tower
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Since it was blisteringly hot, Anna and I didn't spend too much time on that wide green. We walked a little bit of one trail, and, when we didn't see or hear anything, decided to try another trail, again without much luck. Our last stop was a boardwalk, but saw nothing on the ground or air, although we were surrounded by gorgeous thistle. We then decided it'd be much smarter to return in the fall, when more creatures would be out and about.
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| thistle |
It was still fairly early in the day when we left PPPSP, so we weren't quite ready to go home. On the drive over, we'd seen a sign for the Florida National Cemetery, and we decided if we passed another sign on the way back, we'd stop and check it out. We knew we'd made the right decision when another swallow-tailed kite flew overhead on I-75.
The Florida National Cemetery, near Bushnell, lies in the Withlacoochee State Forest, and is the final resting place for +97,000 veterans of twentienth century wars and their spouses. Land for the cemetery was transferred to the Veterans Administration in 1983, and a carillon was constructed in 1993 by WWII AMVETS. When we were there, the bells played "From the Halls of Montezuma" and "Tis a Gift," both very fitting.
Seemingly endless lines of graves make the Florida National Cemetery a humbling place, particularly when you face the grave a newly buried 22 year old soldier. Because we were there on Memorial Day, flags were everywhere, snapping in the wind high on their flagpoles, and in front of hundreds of headstones. This war cemetery is no different from any other, reminding us of not only the worst in us, but also the best.
The Florida National Cemetery, near Bushnell, lies in the Withlacoochee State Forest, and is the final resting place for +97,000 veterans of twentienth century wars and their spouses. Land for the cemetery was transferred to the Veterans Administration in 1983, and a carillon was constructed in 1993 by WWII AMVETS. When we were there, the bells played "From the Halls of Montezuma" and "Tis a Gift," both very fitting.
Seemingly endless lines of graves make the Florida National Cemetery a humbling place, particularly when you face the grave a newly buried 22 year old soldier. Because we were there on Memorial Day, flags were everywhere, snapping in the wind high on their flagpoles, and in front of hundreds of headstones. This war cemetery is no different from any other, reminding us of not only the worst in us, but also the best.
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| view of Florida National Cemetery |
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