Since moving to N.C. from Florida, I’ve gone through a few painful adjustments and bouts of homesickness. I’m accustomed to “winter” lasting only six to eight weeks (usually mid-Dec to mid-February), and I’m used to very strong sun. I miss both these things, plus the big water birds I used to see so easily. I love Florida’s rare natural spaces with a passion. Before meeting my significant other, I would often throw my kayak on my car, pick a river and print off a map using my father’s chart software, and spend all day exploring the crooks and crannies of dark tannin-landed rivers hemmed by swamp cypress or crystal clear waterways bordered by bottomland forests. I’d bring my binoculars and watch snowy egrets, juvenile little blue herons, belted kingfishers — and once, even a reddish egret and a glossy ibis. Something about watching these big birds stalk prey or groom near the water while I floated silently by in my yak made me feel that “complete” natural Florida feeling. Sun on my face, nature doing its thing, and water and trees all around. Here are some of the pictures I’ve taken from my kayak:
Sunrise at Bivens Arm, Gainesville, Florida. (© DeLene Beeland 2005)
Just off Captiva Island, Florida. (© DeLene Beeland 2004)
Paddling on Chassahowitzka River, Florida. (© DeLene Beeland 2004)
Oysters and marsh near Deer Island, Florida. (© DeLene Beeland 2004)
Cypress knees at low water, Devil's Hammock, Florida. (© DeLene Beeland 2005)
American white pelicans, St. Martins Keys, Florida. (© DeLene Beeland 2005)
I’ve always been fascinated by our connection to place. Is it simply nostalgia? The place where we keep our memories. My life in N.C. is great but why do I feel a pull after 7 years to return to Philadelphia?
Then again, what is it about the Blue Ridge mountains that give me comfort? While I like the beach, it doesn’t give me the same feeling.
I think, for me, it’s about being somewhere else. I’m in N.C. now and I’d rather be in Philly or in Lexington, Virginia, or London. And if I was in any of those places, I’d want to be somewhere else.
In On the Road, Neil turns to Sal at the Pacific Ocean and says that there’s no more road. There’s a lot of roads and there’s a lot of us who are restless.
Those are great questions, Russ. I wish I had some answers or insight. I think for me, there are certain emotions I attach to specific places, but then there are also just intrinsic characteristics of certain natural areas that I enjoy. The strength of the afternoon sunlight is different in Florida. The wetland soils are different. The species composition are different… all these things just connect into a sum that is unique. The first time I took Hwy 64 east to Manteo and crossed the sound to the Outerbanks, I was shocked to see pine trees growing in the black needle rush marsh. Back home, those would be cabbage palms. It just looked so alien to see a pine tree in a marsh. I’m still discovering the uniqueness of N.C., but I still long for those quiet days on the rivers and out in the marshes in Florida.
I know what you mean about that wanderlust to just be somewhere else. But sometimes, there are specific places I want to be. Places where I know the natural rhythms and feel at home.
I’m totally with you – this is the Florida that few people get to see, mostly because they don’t look for it. You were wise enough to do so.
The pictures are fabulous and the sunrise on Bivens Arm really resonates with me. It was on my running and cycling loops for four years.
At least you’re in the same time zone and can get often inexpensive direct flights to some places in Florida. Not as simple as throwing the kayak on the car.
It’s harder to find such places in NC but they do exist. As our little girl gets older, I hope to discover them with her.
Bivens Arm is neat isn’t it? I did a bird study for one of my ecology classes, comparing birds at natural water bodies to those at man made water bodies, and this was one of the sites I went to every three days for three weeks. The thumbnail I use here on Wild Muse was taken from the same spot as that image, but behind some grasses and with more light. Blue herons love Bivens Arm. The mornings there were a cacophony of bird calls. The most frequently heard were grackles and red-winged blackbirds. One morning, sandhill cranes flew over as I was doing my count. It’s always amazing to stop and watch animals doing their thing… there is usually such purpose and intention in their actions.
[...] Friday morning, I wrote a short post about homesickness and how I miss living in Florida, my home state. In the comments, Russ Williams mused about the connections we feel to certain [...]
[...] Friday morning, I wrote a short post about homesickness and how I miss living in Florida, my home state. In the comments, Russ Campbell mused about the connections we feel to certain [...]