More wings and crackers
Wed Aug 03, 2005 11:01 (UTC -5)Today I continue retelling my adventures of the trip I went on with my family to my aunt’s house over the weekend. (Here’s part one.)
Day three was Sunday. We weren’t in a hurry to wake up, which was good, I suppose. But it was just then that I was getting more used to waking up early. At about noon we headed off to “the river,” which, I believe was the beloved Ichetucknee. It took us about a half an hour to drive into Suwannee County to go to an out-of-the-way park called Leroy Brown Park. Firstly, I had been to many public parks before, but this was the first private park I had ever seen. My aunt’s significant other, Tom, had a key to open the gate. Secondly, I wondered if this park could be named after that Mr. Brown of the bad, bad variety. But I doubt it.
Anyway, we got in, and it was a nice little secluded place on the river. There was some mangrove action going on, I think, and there was a dock that led from the shore, through the mangroves, to the river. The water level seemed rather high and as we walked down the dock, it got deeper till it was over our ankles. At the end of the dock was a small area with benches and a submerged staircase led to — the river? Well, it wasn’t supposed to; there seemed to be a lower level, but it was all underwater. My aunt said this was a good day; the last time they went, everything was underwater.
Anyway, the water was extremely cold, and I was hungry, so I decided to have a little bite to eat. The main course was cold leftover chicken wings, but I had potato chips, Chex Mix, and grapes — anything to escape the ubiquitous wings. Meanwhile, I had to guard the food from our dog Speck, who we brought along. He’s afraid of water, so he was just fine standing on the bench. If we tried to lower him into the water, he would get all jumpy and his webbed paws would spread out in anticipation.
My aunt brought a kayak — she likes to kayak — and so I decided to take it out for a little spin. We all did, I think. Kayaking is easy and fun. It’s also a good workout for a person like me because it makes no use of your legs. It’s a shame there aren’t any rivers to kayak in around here, only canals. Across the street from my house is an extremely small park, and from it I could probably launch a kayak into the canal, which at that point widens into a sort of lake and has sloping banks. It’s not one of those narrow concrete-seawall garbage-filled canals. Looking at satellite photos of my neighborhood, I think the canal serves no purpose at all, because it just seems to hit two dead ends. It’s just here to look pretty. (Note to self: look into kayaks.)
Anyway, I had a ‘yak attack and made a few rounds around the immediate area within sight of the dock. I went to check out some trees. Only just now do I realize how extremely strange it was to see trees growing in the middle of the river. They had wooden structures around them; apparently when the river level is (or was) much lower, you could walk on them or something.
Later I wanted to see if Speck would go into the ankle-deep water of the dock naturally. I carried him to the beginning, where it was dry. I prodded him along, and he willingly walked as the water got deeper. Eventually he made to the end with no objections and was standing around like the rest of us. We were all very surprised. Even I was surprised, because I thought he’d stop halfway through or something. Then we got him to stand on the kayak while my dad took it around. He seemed really shaky on it, but he didn’t fall in or even try to get out. We were proud.
Then when my dad went out on the kayak sans the dog, he said he saw a manatee. So I went over to where he went to check it out. I couldn’t see one, but I decided to go in the other direction, where it was much more peaceful (nobody was there). I had naively asked, “How do you know a manatee when you see one?” It’s not like I had never seen one before — they have them at aquariums and stuff — but I’d never seen one in the wild. So here I was patrolling the still waters, when, in the dark water, a large, light, rounded shape caught my eye. I stopped.
I hovered near it for a short time, watching intently. It seemed to be poking around the riverbed. I guess it was munching on grass, which appeared to be abundant in this part of the river. Gradually, the manatee got closer to the surface. It was coming up to get air. I saw a nose break the surface to get breath, and the animal’s back followed as it lowered itself back into the water. Manatees have kind of gross-looking skin. But in all, they’re quite nice. I hung around a little while longer before it drifted out of site. As I kayaked away, I heard it come up for air once more.
Then my sister went in the kayak to go see it, but she couldn’t. And while she was out, the sky got dark and thunder was heard. So we called for her, packed up, and headed out just as it started to rain. A few turns took us to Tom’s place, which was called the Mallard. It was called that because it’s a lot on which his camper — a model called Mallard — sits. It was pretty nice. There was also a clearing where you could do stuff. But he doesn’t go there often, apparently; he lives with my aunt most of the time. The Mallard isn’t hooked up for electricity, so while waiting for the storm, he lit a candle.
After that we went back to Happy Valley, the usual residence, and later for dinner we went to Floyd’s (sound warning), which is apparently the only good restaurant in town. Their slogan is “Two places to eat: home and Floyd’s.” The restaurant has the look of a pseudo-’50s diner, but the music they play is classic rock all around. (In fact, the restaurant is named for Pink Floyd, not any person named Floyd.) Their food is pretty good, but they don’t have a terribly big selection.
Having stuffed myself, I went to sleep shortly after getting home. We got up kind of early to leave Happy Valley. My aunt and Tom had already gone to work. We set out going north because my mom’s cow-orker had asked her to buy her some sausage, and my aunt knew of a good sausage place up the road. So we did that and then went down a rather slow way that took us significantly longer than the way up. But we did get home eventually, at about 4:00 or 5:00, maybe. And that was that.
Hey ladies, why not go out with a geek or nerd? Read why geeks and nerds are worth it. (Reason #5: “They’ve got brains. Come on now, how can intelligence be a bad thing?”)
