Everglades Off Season–A Beautiful Place to Visit

East River Mangroves ©Lynne Buchanan

This morning we kayaked the East River in the Everglades.  'There was soft light before we entered the tunnels and then it became cloudier, making the colors of the tunnels appear spectacular.  It threatened to rain the whole day, and a few drops fell while we were in the tunnels but we were dry under cover.  

Mangrove Tunnel ©Lynne Buchanan

The tunnels were amazing.  The clouds were such a benefit, as the light did not make the images too contrasty.  I was so excited to see all the colors and all the detail in what would typically have been in shadow.

Saw Grass ©Lynne Buchanan

The saw grass was so incredible too.  The softness of the light revealed all the different shades and made the grass appear even softer and whispier.

Funghi ©Lynne Buchanan

In the tunnels on the way back, I saw these fungi on a mangrove root.  It was so dark in the tunnel because of the increased clods that it really made the mushrooms stand out.

Exiting the Tunnel ©Lynne Buchanan

The end of the tunnel opened out on to the verdant green of the mangroves, which were perfectly reflected in the calm water creating a dreaming paradise.

Miniature Mangrove Dancing in the Grass ©Lynne Buchanan

Later, we went to Ten Thousand Islands.  We climbed the observation tower and I saw this sweet little  baby mangrove that looked as if it was dancing in the grass.  The light, which was intermittent, came through and lit up the scene just the right amount without blowing out the water.

Ten Thousand Islands Pastel Sunset ©Lynne Buchanan

Then, on the way back to the car, I looked out from Marsh Trail onto the water and saw these beautiful pastel sunset, which was saved from being too subtle by the dramatic white cloud.  The whites and soft yellows of the white cloud were a perfect compliment to the lavenders in the other clouds, and the reflection of the clouds and the mangroves made the scene complete.

Tuscawilla Lake, A Magical Evening in a Pristine Paradise

Tuscawilla Lake with Rainbow and Lotus ©Lynne Buchanan

Last evening was incredibly special on Tuscawilla Lake.  When we set out in our canoe, we had no idea what kind of show nature was going to put on for us.  The lotus blossoms were out and the egrets and herons were enjoying landing in them and fishing for what was hiding under the big leaves.  Then a rainbow began to form.  The prairie care taker had told us they've been appearing every night lately.  The water was so calm, which allowed the rainbow to reflect subtly inviting me even further into the scene.

Underwater Glow ©Lynne Buchanan

The light got more and more magical and then I looked down and saw this lily pad under water illuminated with the light refracted through the surface imbuing it with the most golden glow. Floating there it looked ethereal and other worldly.

Fishing ©Lynne Buchanan

We alternated between watching the birds fish and the clouds form.  Their shape changed so quickly it was hard to keep it.  They went from interesting to dramatic to absolutely mind blowing  and by the time the light was gone, they had mostly disappeared.

Whale Cloud ©Lynne Buchanan

Sculptural Cloud Formation ©Lynne Buchanan

Clouds in the Lake ©Lynne Buchanan

Tuscawilla Sunset with Clouds ©Lynne Buchanan

Tuscawilla Last Light  ©Lynne Buchanan

Ichetucknee Springs: Beauty and Despair

Ichetucknee Impressionism © Lynne Buchanan

This past weekend I spent swimming at Blue Springs and Kayaking on the Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers.  With all the rain we have had lately, the springs along the Santa Fe were not as clear as usual because of all the flooding.  The river was at 24.2 feet and had overrun its banks and was infiltrating the springs.  The photographs in this post are all from my trip along the Ichetucknee which is a separate entity.

The river is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and it always inspires me with its clear waters and grasses and the way reflections intersperse with actual reality beneath the surface of the water.  It is like being aware in multiple dimensions simultaneously and expands my consciousness and my perception.  

 The Source of the Ichetucknee ©Lynne Buchanan

First, I paddled up to the source of the springs, stopping just before the restricted area.  The water was beautiful clear shades of blue.  I felt like I was in some Eden-like environment.  It was so beautiful and peaceful and filled me with hope for our planet.  Perhaps, if we stop destroying the environment, these magical springs could regenerate.

Greenery Above and Below ©Lynne Buchanan

In this northernmost part of the river, the trees and grasses, both above and below the water appeared healthy and they most certainly were flourishing.  This incredible verdancy was a feast for my eyes and was no doubt producing oxygen and cleansing the soil and air.  Places like the Ichetucknee are not just recreational places for kayakers or tubers, they are life giving and if they die, it is because the qualities of our water has been destroyed and we will suffer too.  These springs are the source of our water, they are the veins that give us life.

Ichetuckneee Explosion of Life ©Lynne Buchanan

I was so happy to see the springs teeming with life.  The grasses appeared green and healthy and the water was beautiful and clear.  If we destroy such a place, it will be one of the most horrendous crimes I can imagine.  There was once a whole network of springs throughout Florida.  Now only the ones north of Tampa survive and many of them are dying.  Our Governor pretends to be doing something, but he is not.  He is giving money to agriculture, utilities, and industry to do what they should already be paying for out of their exorbitant profits.  He is not in fact allocating much money at all to clean up the springs.  The Ichetucknee is fortunate in its northernmost part and there are many people who advocate for its continued survival.  However, even it suffers further downstream.

Red Algae Near the Devil's Eye Spring ©Lynne Buchanan

Some of our group stopped to swim at the Devil's Eye Spring along the river.  I decided to paddle around the corner, to where someone told me there was another small spring coming from a rock.  Just before I reached it, I saw this site and it made me want to cry.  It looked like I remembered toxic waste dumps in New Jersey looking like.  I have heard that there has been a wonderful restoration project in the Meadowlands, so even Toxic waste dumps can be turned around.  Let us do this for our springs, before it becomes too late.

Underwater Near the Devil's Eye Spring ©Lynne Buchanan

Right before I got to the main spring, I saw this sight.  It was in the same area as where freshwater was entering the river, yet there was horrible lyngbya dark green mats stuck on all the old tree branches.  It looked like some weird inferno, and was eery and frightening.  My heart sank.  I had no desire to swim in the water here.  I just put my underwater camera in and took pictures.  This is not something I want to see, but I cannot close my eyes to it any longer.  It will take a grassroots movement to wake politicians, the agribusiness, developers, and other business interests up.  It must be done.  This is an unforgivable crime to Gaia.

Immature Ibises Watching ©Lynne Buchanan

A little further on, I came across a beautiful pair of immature ibises.  The current was stronger than I anticipated and brought me closer to them than I would have liked, but they were not afraid.  I talked to them for awhile and told them how sorry I was for what was happening to their river.

Why? ©Lynne Buchanan

They looked at me quizzically, as if to ask "Why?"  I told them I didn't have an answer.  There was not good explanation for this.  Beauty and life should be preserved and valued.  People should understand that the springs are connected to our water supply and that we are connected with the birds and the trees and the water.  It is a web of life.  That is how we survive–through the interdependence of our ecosystems, not from dumping phosphates and sewage and coal ash into our rivers.

Help! ©Lynne Buchanan

Though these turtles appeared to be lazing on a log to warm up from the cool temperatures of the springs on a nice summer afternoon, I also noted the algae on their shells and couldn't help but think as the water quality declines they must suffer too.

For all these creatures, for this beautiful, primitive, once pure and pristine place, let us come together and demand action.  The springs and the rivers are our lifeline.  Remember that...

Sometimes the Sky is Just on Fire

Sometimes the Sky is Just on Fire ©Lynne Buchanan

Sometimes the sky is just on fire.  I was riding my mountain bike out in Barre Hammock and it was 95 degrees and I was sick of the heat, but I just had to get out.  Being trapped in air conditioning day in and day out can get to a person after awhile.  Don't get me wrong, I am glad I have it, but after awhile I feel like I am living in some strange bubble and I start to feel like I am losing touch with the earth.  The other day, I said to myself, "That's it.  I'm going out and if it rains on me what the heck and if its boiling I'll live."  I loaded up my bike, threw it in the back of my Subaru and headed out to Barre Hammock.  I chose this location because it is up on a man made earthen dike, so you are above ground level.  We have had so many flooding rains this summer that I had to wear wellington boots to get to my yurt.

I started riding and there were a few clouds clumped together and more and more kept attaching themselves.  I stopped in a few places to take reflections of the clouds in the ponds that had formed, but it was the clouds themselves that kept calling me.  By the time I rounded the corner with the hut and bench rest area, this is what I was blessed to witness.  I loved how it was so dark and stormy in the center, with the lighter clouds around the edges, and then there was that surreal blast of light at the bottom.  It was truly ethereal, like some kind of light presence was being jettisoned into this reality.

Clouds are my thing.  I am dangerous to drive with.  One of my sons is always telling me, "Please mom, keep your eyes on the road."  But I see clouds and my imagination runs rampant.  I am so fascinated with their appearance and what shape they might take next that once I see I cloud formation, I can hardly stop watching it.  I actually have to tell myself out loud to pay attention to where I am.  So you know I pay attention to clouds, and I have to say I have never seen anything like that funnel of light at the bottom.  Sometimes the clouds are just on fire...

Temple of Aphaea at Aegina

Temple of Aphaea at Aegina ©Lynne Buchanan

Over the summer, I had the great fortune to travel to Greece and visit my lifelong friend and fellow artist, Mary Cox.  One of my recent dreams is to travel back there and collaborate with her.  My busy schedule would only allow a week in June, but even a week steeped in such history and energy is life altering.  This "current" temple was built in c.500 BC over the remains over an earlier tempe c. 570 BC.   For us in America, it is hard to envision being in the presence of such antiquities as one finds in Greece, Egypt and elsewhere in the world. Sadly, all these monuments which have existed for so many millennia are being affected by pollution, increasingly so each year.  Yet, it is still so inspiring to stand in the vicinity of these monuments, to look out at the views the people who built these monuments thought were worthy of their gods.

Aphaea was a Greek goddess who was worshiped almost exclusively here.  Early on, she was a local deity associated with fertility and the agricultural cycle, but under Athenian rule she became associated with Artemis and Athena.  While I was walking around I preferred to to think of her as being a divinity of agriculture, as indigenous ways of living with the earth seem so important to connect with right now in this time of industrialized farming which is raping our earth.  Artemis was a very important goddess as well.  She was associated with nature and the moon, and represents a less dominating, more mysterious connection with being.  Athena, the goddess of the arts, reminds me of the incredible creative power of the feminine spirit.  Though I am not militaristic by nature, we often forget how powerful women are and what they are capable of doing when their young or their homes are threatened.   To resolve conflicts peaceably, through artistic expression and words, is always preferable to me, but the attitudes rampant in our society today towards the earth and our fellow humans and other creatures inhabiting this planet are so violent and disrespectful that women may be compelled to rise up and fight back,  Hopefully, we will do this with intelligence, dignity and compassion, instead of from a purely reactive frame of mind.  As the gender that brings communities together, women do tend to think of the larger picture and the web of life.  We heal horizontally.

To be on such a sacred spot where people came to worship Aphaea in her many manifestations gave this temple a very special charge. I have to wonder what she thinks now, looking on the earth and what we have done to her, since we have forgotten the gods and goddesses and the important roles they had in keeping us balanced with our environment.  That is why it is so important to preserve these sacred spots.  When we stand there we remember the grandeur of the human spirit that once was and still exists buried beneath the superficiality of values our culture imposes on us.  We remember how it was to be the conduit between earth and heaven and that we were entrusted with keeping both nature and the scared alive and well.

I am so grateful my friend Mary took me here.  We had to take a boat and then a long bus ride winding up through the hills to get here, and no one was really sure when or if there would be a bus back or whether that was the last one.  It didn't matter.  We took our chances and went anyway, as Mary knew that we could walk down the hill to another location where boats came and went from the mainland.  We took our chances that there would be another boat arriving there that afternoon.  If I was going to get stuck somewhere, this island would definitely be a fine place to be marooned.

Of course, the universe must have been smiling on us for our awe and respect.  When we got to the bottom of the hill, there was a wonderful restaurant where we shared a Mythos Beer (I don't drink beer but with a name like that I couldn't resist) and some octopus and giant fava beans before taking a swim in the crystal clear water in the cove below.  The waiter had told us we had an hour and a half until the last boat, so we had plenty of time to dine and explore.  Perfect days do exist...

Impressionistic Wave

Impressionistic Wave ©Lynne Buchanan

The image above was just awarded second place for photography in the18th Annual Autumn Art Fest in Live Oak, Florida, a regional festival that draws people from North Florida, Georgia, and the Panhandle.

I made this on Molokai, Hawaii one late afternoon when I was photographing waves.  First, I made many images that froze waves in walls and I also made closeups of the tubes.  Then, to change things up, I decided to make some blurs.  I lowered my ISO and slowed my shutter speed by increasing the aperture.  To make the effect even more pronounced, I moved the camera horizontally in a slow but continual motion.  This image is my favorite one from that afternoon, since it captured a long wall with spray releasing into the atmosphere.  The painterly colors within the wave came from the ocean and from the sky's reflections.

Blurs dovetail with my philosophy of creativity so well.  I bring myself and my abilities to the scene, but I have to be open to what is happening and nature becomes an equal contributor.  There is also a big element of chance and synchronicity.  This introduces a sense of fluidity to the creative act and takes me out of my conscious mind.  There is no way I can control everything that happens and the spontaneity of my relationship to nature is evoked.