'Econfina Spring to swim in, so I just jumped in the Crick: North Bay County, FL (Yellow)

Heey y'all PC beechers! So the main watersource feeder of Panama City, Econfina Creek, is also lined with natural springs on its upper section. Again, most of 'em are only accessible by canoe, and the public spring (Pitt) was closed for renovations when I tried to visit it. Near the closed park and the FL-20 bridge is a canoe launch, fairly popular with locals who suggested I just swim in the river. So I did - jumped in the yellow-toned clear sandy water and waded/dog-paddled up the current to the spring exit and back down, and it was exactly as desired - wild yet calm, safe yet with solitude, each river a distinctly unique experience and the greatest gift to the towns they serve. From PC: go up FL-77, turn right at Hwy 20, go a few miles till you see the sign for Econfina Creek Canoe Livery, then it's at both sides of the bridge, on the left. As they say, "nothin' could be finer than the econfina!"

that sweet sweet emerald Chipola: Marianna, FL (Green)

Last year when touring Florida's natural springs, I just barely mentioned the Chipola River, going underground on the escarpment in Florida Caverns State Park. Well, we come to find out it is fed by almost 65 springs, from its initial rise on the Alabama/Florida border through Marianna, its emerald-toned water and holy limestone banks winding along, often only a mile from civilization but feeling far removed from it. Spring Creek (aka Jackson Blue Springs) is its largest tributary, and it contains several springs, mostly only accessible via water travel.
You can get in at Spring Creek county (Jackson) Park off US-90 just outside of town, by the Chipola Greenway from a dirt road off FL-73 between downtown and the bridge over I-10, or one of several boat landings upstream or downstream from these. The upper Chipola feels oh so magical, sweet, and pure! but closer to the Dead Lakes and its swampy merges with the Apalachicola it turns into a "regular" dark coastal river.

High Falls and Indian Springs: The Fall Line in middle Georgia

Work has been so tiring lately. Especially when it's getting warm in the afternoons and you're sent out on difficult missions in strange locations that aren't so welcoming. And if you want some shade and shelter from south metro Atlanta I-75 suburbia, there actually aren't many natural public spaces to choose from. However, just about halfway between Atlanta and Macon, there is a lush section along the fall line escarpment (an ancient coastline) which has two state parks, High Falls and Indian Springs. Both are within a few miles of the interstate, and have been visited/settled for hundreds of years.

The High Falls on the Towaliga River

It was an industrial town in the 1800's, a perfect location for a grist mill. Before that, it was a Creek Indian settlement. The Towaliga rises in Henry County and is mostly flat until the falls, and then it joins the Ocmulgee River just north of Macon. The elevation change is sudden and intense, and separates the upper and lower Piedmont right here. Below the falls, canoeing/kayaking are popular, one of the few locations in middle Georgia.
I arrived not long before sunset, finding the cool spray of the falls totally necessary to counter the humidity of a warm season in the Georgia piedmont. (pictured at top) Then below the falls a little hiding space on the river's edge, with lots of rabbits and other wildlife running past me really made me want to stay.


http://www.gastateparks.org/HighFall

INDIAN SPRINGS

A little further from I-75 is middle Georgia's "Indian Springs," which was also a Creek settlement, then incorporated as a town by the whites, and the land around the spring and the two streams that also join there was bought by the state in 1825 as Georgia's original state park. Recognizing the importance of preserving the spring, the state has resisted offers from private companies to sell the land (for bottling/selling water, for example) because of its renowned healing properties (similar to other cases around the world of the known healing properties of spring water, and the rise and fall of the health resort industry boom in the 20th century).


The Spring House - built by the CCC in the 1930's

The first person to capitalize on the springs' resort potential, ironically, was Creek Chief William McIntosh (the park's lake is named after him). He signed two fateful Treaties of Indian Springs here with the Georgia government; the first in 1821 gave him property of this land, where he built his second plantation and a hotel. It must not have been good enough, because in 1825, he caved in to the whites' quest for the land and signed the second treaty, giving these springs, the Towaliga river and falls, the Ocmulgee basin/Macon, and the area that would become the city of Atlanta (up to the Chattahoochee), including the very spot I am sitting in right now writing this.

I was almost out of water when I arrived at the park, and there were several travelers from Macon and Atlanta who regularly come here with empty jugs and take advantage of the forever free flowing fresh water. The water smells so good here, it smells like life. Not like a truckstop sink or cooler, or surrounded by a ritzy resort.
Thank you, state of Georgia, for preserving this spot!

http://www.gastateparks.org/IndianSprings

Dark Days at Black Rock (Spring in highplaces part 2)

BLACK ROCK MOUNTAIN STATE PARK
Mountain City, GA...the highest (elevation) park in GA.
It was cloudy, late, and rainy. You could barely see the mountain through the fog. Not really exploring weather!
But the Spring House amid the rhododendron - you can see the rhododendron begin in thick washes as you go up the mountain - here was a spot of peace that you could drink, and Trahlyta would have liked it here even though it isn't big enough for bathing...

Find your home, in the limestone

I DREAMT I DWELT IN LIMESTONE HALLS

Beside the swimming area at Wakulla Springs, the limestone floor drops to over one hundred feet below the surface.
And, for those divers who have seen these depth and not drowned, there is a cave that connects to the gulf, below the Wakulla River and below the old fort San Marcos de Apalache, below the soft earth along each side that holds WalMart and several country homes, and the river's two spooky bridges.



Some of the fish that have lived here have followed the current from as far as South Florida and the Keys, it's been Sead.











And of course, manatees like the underwater caves too.
"come to the surface, I'm dreaming of you."















About a hundred miles Northwest is Florida's only aboveground cavern open to the public, Florida Caverns State Park along the Chipola River near one of its hiding places, where this river had risen years ago and created bluffs, recalling the days of yore when most of Florida was still underwater and these caverns were along the shore.






MY LUCK the cavern tour was closed when I was there, but I still got to witness this exciting combination, the paradox where palmettos cover walls of rocks...













just beyond here is where the sweet Chipola burrows underground for a few miles.











dream on,
Arianna

Florida Springs, Part 2: The (sur)Real Florida

There's a voice that says "just let yourself be..."
Is it a lady or is it a manatee?
You'll have to come down to the spring and see.







Mimimolotov the mullet seems to disagree:
"There's people up there and I have to jump up and see,
and never mind the fishermen down at Steinhatchee."
(but it does sound like an exciting industry)




There are places where the humans don't really get to go
and that's ok with us as long as they know
sometimes we do have to remind them, though
(and sometimes they have to build fences to make sure no boats try to slip through)







my country home,
my lovely, never lonely,
Black Lagoon











where algae and branches are walkways
over floors I don't even know how deep












All photos at Wakulla Springs State Park (Wakulla, FL)
except #2 of the mullet at Manatee Springs
and the above photo is at Sally Ward Spring inside Wakulla Park.

Florida Springs, part 1

Florida is a quagmire.

(in more than one sense)

A watery, swampy semitropical land with wild variations of plant and animal life, some undeveloped and seemingly undevelopable, yet somehow overdeveloped in the names of Tourism and the Conquest of Paradise.
Aside from beaches (and family), Florida seemed not so interesting to me when I was young, because what I got to see was mostly theme parks and tourist attractions. Entering adulthood, and leaving a horrible high-school Disney trip, I'd never been to the "Real Florida" - as the Florida State Park system slogan goes - and so in 2006, I decided to move there!
I lived for a spring and summer on the Gulf Coast, along the panhandle by Panama City in a pastoral one-stoplight town. Every day nature passed me an element of inspiration. Oyster shells clanking, cypress reflecting, sitting tranquil over waters unsafe for swimming humans.

In summer 2009, I return again...

FLORIDA'S SPRINGS
www.floridasprings.org

There are hundreds of natural springs in Florida, mostly along the Gulf side where groundwater meets limestone and sinkholes and underwater caves form.
I visited, and swam in, several: Fanning, Manatee, Wekiwa, Wakulla.
The smell of living creatures in the clear water, the yellows, blues, and greens - are a sensual Fountain of Youth that can not, and will not, allow itself to be paved over.


Photos 1-3 are from Manatee Springs near Chiefland, FL, and the photo on the right is from Wekiwa, on the edge of Orlando.

Elisa Jimenez article

Here is a link to a good article about Elisa Jimenez's Spring 2009 "Urban Nomads" collection at NYC fashion week, featuring recycled materials, sage, and honeysuckle. Also an interview with Elisa.

Personally, I prefer lavender on my clothes these days (but that's just me). And last year it was Jasmine (Bonet) who annointed me with her discount mall-chic dresses that inspired a song.

But sage can dispel negative energy/entities, and is therefore very useful when going out shopping or spending lunch with your classmates (if your high school experience was like mine).