He appears in many forms in the beauty of the wilderness
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He always appears when I am least expecting him.
At Carlton Reserve, I aim for a brisk walk but bring the camera “just in case.” Then blooms stop me in my tracks — rain lily, Elliot’s milkpea, morning glory. Exercise mode abandoned, I pause over and over again to capture their gorgeousness.
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Most of the time, I do not realize his presence until long into my walk or afterwards.
He defies description. Once he turned up in the guise of an owl. Some friends and I had stopped at the Fakahatchee Strand. I wanted them to experience the glorious chaos that is this preserve of cypress, royal palms, orchids, bromeliads and vines. Instead, the wildlife decided to put on a show for us. A young cottonmouth snake lay across part of the road. As we were about to leave, we peered into the swamp for a last look, and a barred owl plopped herself right in front of us. She proceeded to survey the surroundings, totally ignoring three gawking humans.
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The cooter showed up one humdrum afternoon at Curry Creek Preserve.
With one eye on the skies, waiting for the next rain shower, I ambled along a trail slowed down by the heat on a mid-October day. When I turned to take the trail out of the park, I saw what looked to be a helmet moving slowly through the grass. At first I thought it was a gopher tortoise, but it was a bit smaller. Then the creature lifted his head to display the characteristic yellow markings on the black head of a Florida cooter turtle. The cooter and I walked side-by-side-by-side down the trail for a few minutes before he headed for the small stream by a culvert.
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I was amazed at how tame he was.
Honored to be allowed into the world of these creatures even for a few minutes, I am also exhilarated by the experience.
Another time I was feeling depleted by the day’s news, so I abandoned my schedule and took to the woods. At Sleeping Turtles South, I stepped out of the van into a bed of wildflowers — frog fruit, blue-eyed grass, beggarticks. Then a few minutes into the Preserve, I met Bob, who works for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and we talked a bit about snakes. I had not seen one for months.
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When I continued down the trail, a beautifully patterned rat snake, warming up after the night’s chill, turned up. He allowed me to photograph him before he rustled off into the grass. Usually, I catch just a hurried glimpse of snakes.
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That was not all. Continuously along the path, beautiful scenes presented themselves. A sulphur butterfly circled ’round and ’round me. Fish nests appeared on the lake bottom.
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Feeling like the young King Arthur under the tutelage of Merlin, when a fish swam towards me, I knew the conjurer was working his magic.
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I would never set out to photograph a ruby-throated hummingbird. But one day, when I stopped to capture the bright red flowers of coral bean, a hummingbird dropped in for lunch.
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I could never understand the workings of the God of Small Things. All I know is that if I cultivate awareness, he crops up from time to time.
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