GAINESVILLE – Here’s a clue: Turning onto a long winding road to get to your final destination it usually means you are headed for a totally different world. This clue works well for Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in Gainesville. Turning off…
Flutter with the butterflies
One day the birds complained to the Great Father“Why did you make butterflies so beautiful? We feel left out.”“What would you have me do?” God asked.“Give them a flaw,” the birds said.“Well, how about I make them silent,” the Great…
Make your heart two sizes bigger
Ba bing! Here. Have $1,000. Your lucky day. But there’s a catch. You have to give it away and do it soon, within a week. Three hundred audience members at Oprah Winfrey’s television show in October got the chance to…
Open the door to Levy County Quilt Museum
Winnelle Horne of Chiefland can remember as a small child playing under the quilt her mother was making. She declared, “I ain’t never going to do that.” The girl who played under the quilt grew up and made many quilts.…
Sunset stalkers wanted, must work evenings
Wanted: Sunset stalkers. Must be willing to work evenings. Your job: Watching the sun go down. It is a terrible job but somebody’s got to do it. All applications considered regardless of race, creed, age, political party or sex. I…
Fanning Springs State Park
Welcome to Fanning Springs State Park on the banks of the Suwannee River. There is no reason to lean on the railing in your street clothes and feel left out. Come prepared to dive in or jump into the headspring.…
Winning photograph
During last week’s Florida Outdoor Writers Assocaion (FOWA) Conference in the Keys photographers could enter a photo contest for the best pictures taken in the Keys during the conference. Lucy entered and won second place.Fun! Awesome! See the first, second…
Good morning sunshine
Let’s be honest. People who rise at 4:30 a.m. and are ready to go swimming by 5:15 a.m. have to be a little weird. Okay, maybe not terminally weird, like send in the white coats and you get a little…
Hats off to Earth Day
The old straw hat ain’t what she used to be. In the front, there is a permanent droop .The silk flowers are perky but looked dated, like maybe they bloomed last spring. Still, I kept it around. It was good…
This playground is boundless
How would you like to go to a playground and just sit there watching? No, that wouldn’t be any fun at all. Yet until the concept of a Boundless Playground came along, children with disabilities often simply sat on the…
Meet Isabel the Cat Woman
Isabel Casin would rather take care of cats than buy new shoes for herself.“If someone gave me $100 for new shoes, I’d spend it on these cats instead,” Isabel said, nodding to the woods behind her.These are feral cats; some…
A time for war, a time for peace
Is there a time for peace and a time for war? That was the question at the Interfaith Alliance forum on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2006. It was held in the Fellowship Hall at Druid Hills United Methodist Church in Ocala.…
My dog gave me a wakeup call
A new year begins. We all know what that means. It means a response to the sticker shock we experience when we step on the scales. Resoution Number one: Lose weight. Therefore, in the year 2006 we, along with our…
The taste of Christmas
Long ago and far away, Christmas was fun. That was a few lifetimes ago, when I was shorter, younger, and not responsible for making it happen. As a kid, Christmas is done unto you, and that makes it magical. The…
Hunger and pumpkin pie
It is lunch hour at Brother’s Keeper Soup kitchen and the line is long. As soon as the “closed” sign is turned around to read “open”, they begin filing in. Sister Concepta hands out tuna sandwiches to guests. She looks…
Disaster strikes pets and people
Warning: What you are about to read is a true story. It is tough to read. A co-worker has lots of family that lived in New Orleans, including a husband and wife who both worked in a hospital.As Hurricane Katrina…
My People Left Me Next to a Dumpster
My people left me next to a dumpster. Why? I don’t know. It was scary. Did I do something wrong? I’d never been outside before. I missed my mom, my human people, the familiar rooms, and meals. Food for the…
An Apple for Me and the Bambino
Welcome to Pike Place Market, Seattle, where the word “merge” takes on whole new levels. The Market, and the surrounding area, is like a mini-United Nations, a common ground where cultures congregate and do commerce. Homeless people and low-income families…
An Honorable Burial for Wayne Geer
Wayne Geer died alone. A U. S. Army veteran who served a tour of duty in Korea, Geer had no fixed address. He was living in a Belleview, Florida hotel room and was found by the motel owner lying in…
Wild, Natural and Untamed
The Ichnetucknee River had a mind of its own, determined, focused, flowing at a fast clip, mysteriously drawn towards the Santa Fe River that then flows into the Gulf of Mexico. I don’t resist. Putting the paddle down on the…
Squint Your Eyes Frequently
Everyone is so quiet you can almost hear brush strokes. Inside Linda Blondheim’s small studio, eight artists are squeezed in somehow, easels turned every which way. If we step back to give our mind a rest, we bump into another…
You Don’t Know Me
I went to work a few years back at a mid-size newspaper. Like most reporters, I’m a newspaper junkie, reading it every day. Have to, just to keep up. I noticed the editors, not the cop reporter, wrote up any…
Inhaling North Carolina Mountain Air
Two Canadian geese flew overhead. That was exciting. I stop to take a shot but I’m not fast enough. All I see are their behinds. Lowering the camera, I continue walking down from the high meadow, my running shoes making…
Looking for your comments
Saturday mornings with Lucy will be on hiatus for two weeks. The next column is due on Friday, May 26 (yes, I know, it is weird, Saturday morning’s column is published on Fridays). As always, your feedback and comments are…
A Letter to My Mom
Dear Mom, If I lived nearer to where you are, I’d take this letter to your gravesite. They say that everything people leave at the National Cemetery, letters, mementos, photographs, all get saved. It helps to write, to share emotions.…