I think I've slept every weekend of this first month down here away. Yesterday, with a sense of re-newed energy, I forced myself to find a hammock and so headed over to the Matheson Hammock Park just for that. I must have taken a wrong turn after entering the park for I found myself among mangroves with not another person in site. Pulling delicately off the road and praying that the car wheels would not sink into the murky ground of soft rotting leaves, I found a sweet private breezy spot under the shade at the water’s edge. From there I could see the Miami skyline and enjoy a collection of musical sounds emanating from passing motorboats. Unfolding my chair, I set myself up for an afternoon of solitude among nature… so please to be only 15 minutes from my home. I took pictures, read a little, snoozed a bit, inhaled the scent of the sea, and only after three hours did I notice the yellow sign 6 feet to the left of me!
Florida both lulls and creeps me out!If a hammock is to be fit in a relaxing, peaceful, breezy waterfront spot, read this:
http://twistedsifter.com/2011/08/25-perfect-places-for-a-hammock/
Another definition of a Hammocks from Everglades site: Within the marsh are places where the limestone is just a couple of feet higher, high enough to permit hardwood trees like mahogany, gumbo limbo, cocoa palm, and other plants to grow. The hammock creates its own protective environment, often cooler than the surrounding glades. The leaves cast off by the hammocks trees mix with rainwater to form an acidic solution, dissolving limestone downstream from the hammock, surrounding the hammock with a moat which provides additional protection in the event of fire.
Because they are dry the hammocks served as places for the Indians of the glades to live. They also grew crops in the soil of the hammock; the word "hammock" may be derived from the Indian term for "garden place."
The interior of the hammock is dark and thick with vegetation, the floor spongy with rotting leaves.
When I told my mother about the sign, she stated she didn’t think Florida had crocodiles so I looked it up.
Apparently alligators can be found in any freshwater body throughout the state, but crocodiles are confined to South Florida. They need warmer temperatures, and live where salt and fresh water mix. Florida is the only place in the world where alligators and crocodiles coexist.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,512966,00.html#ixzz1XbL8zK00
Hopefully, hidden in the hammock somewhere, there is an equally important sign in "crocodilian" that warns of the presence of humans and states that it is a reptilian offense to harass them.
ReplyDelete