A Little Florida . . .

We're being bombed with snow here in the Midwest, which is lovely. The timing has been perfect--I was in Florida on assignment last week and came back just in time for one big snowstorm last week with another coming this week.

Thought I'd post a few photos of Florida. The trip included an interesting visit with Terry Thompson, the president of the Ocala National Forest Assocation. He is spearheading the assembly of a group of volunteeer trail rangers who will patrol the trail system in the forest. What Terry's doing is necessary for ORV enthusiasts across the country as new USFS policies are enacted which require national forests to restrict ORV use to "established trails."

Interesting to have found a story with a bit more depth than I expected, and great to see people going out there and doing what it takes to keep the sport alive.

I also spent a day pursuing my "gator quest." I stopped at Lake Apopka, a lake in which a researcher from the University of Florida discovered that the alligators had smaller penises than those who lived in another nearby lake. I stopped at the lake and spoke to a bishop who was there fishing. He said he had seen plenty of gators swimming past while he fished, some as "big as my truck" (tho he didn't comment on their penis size). The whole Lake Apopka alligator issue captured my interest--were these gators seeking help with commerical drugs or therapy?--and I spent the day searching for gators.

I found a gator hotel which had a 60-foot fiberglass gator eating a car out front. I photographed gators. I gathered gator stories, including the tale of a nine-footer battering his head against the door of a woman's house until animal control showed up. That's one knock on the door that would be a shock to answer, eh? I didn't make my final destination--Alligator Point up near Tallahassee--and I didn't get to meet Alligator Bob, so the completion of the gator quest will have to wait for another trip.

Besides good stories and foolish quests for lizards, it was good for this lily white midwesterner to see a little sun. That 80-degree reprieve is hard to imagine today, as a snowstorm has turned the view out of my office window into near white-out conditions. This is the way winter's meant to be!