Cycling Florida.

                                            FLORIDA!

I believe it is Spanish for flowered as I'm sure it must have been at one time. Time does an amazing job of shaping nature. I'm talking geologic time. That's the kind of time passage that goes unwitnessed because it is so slow. Earth events happen over millions if not billions of years. Can you get your head around that kind of time span? I know I can't. My reference for the passage of time is based on thoughts like: "I've been cycling for 5 hours into a head wind and I've only travelled 30 miles." Or, "Hmm, I just noticed I'm hungry again. Oh! My watch says 12:15 well, shit I haven't eaten in 3 whole hours." These don't even register on the clock of geologic time.   
My point is that being in Florida has given me another marker for just how old planetary ecological systems are and how young humans are. That lovely hibiscus I've been seeing in gardens and roadsides probably did not appear in it's current form until 20,000 years ago and it took 10 million years before that to establish itself.
And it's not done yet. 
As another example, consider the alligator. Hmmm, yes I'M considering the alligator. It's ancestors go back about 250,000,000 years. Some of the species that emerged weighed in at 10 tons and could be 35-50 feet long. A carnivorous predator. What a perfect machine. The ones I've seen are of course much smaller, lay in the water with eyes and nostrils just barely visible above murky water. It just floats and waits. It expends almost no energy. I think their cool. They exhibit no deference one way or the other to the whims of society or weather. I think they are beautiful and aside from the teeth, they strike me as.... not docile exactly but tranquil just chillin' in repose. That is until it gets hungry or riled up because another predator gets too close to it, or it's nest. 
Sometimes I get the impression that collectively as human beings we have this idea that the way the world is now barring sudden cataclysmic seismic or climatic changes is the way it will always be.
Not so, the laws of evolution and adaptation would indicate otherwise. We can fuck it up all we want and this enormous ever advancing ecology will continue to adapt. That's an awesome concept and one that gives me hope.

Traveling in Florida has been such an experience of contrasts. I have met incredibly warm, wonderful people, experienced their southern hospitality and traveled through unique beautiful natural landscapes. I camped at the edge of an orange grove last night. The sweet smell of fruit trees lingering was intoxicating. I spent one night camped in a state reserve. A "slough" they call it. Lots of water and the requisite flora and fauna that accompanies such a place. I dipped my bandana in a pond on the edge of the campground to wash my face.  It looked like a little beach. The grass was pressed down and I thought maybe it was a spot where people fished. It was right near the outhouse and trash dumpster. After I set up my tent which MUST be done before dusk because of the mosquitoes, I went back 20 minutes later to maybe dip my feet. There it was. The tell tale nostrils and eyes floating above the mirror like surface of that still pond. Just a little 7-8 footer. My unconscious mind recognized it before I even thought about it. I just jumped about 5 feet sideways. I don't think it would come after me, I was a good 10 feet. But why push it? I was 100 miles from nowhere and the only person camped there that night. I probably could have gotten away with not putting the 10 bucks into the deposit pedestal.
In any case, alligators, hibiscus, wood storks, anhingas, copper heads, panthers and even mosquitoes are all part of this little corner of paradise. 
For me, it's just one more reason to think "WOW, what an amazing world"!
Thanks for reading.




















1. 

Yo soy el fantasma de la Navidad perfecta futuro de 


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3. Yo soy el fantasma de la Navidad perfecta futuro de subjuntivo : yo te mostraré lo que habría pasado esta