A Tree State of Mind

 

It was just what the doctor ordered. The peace of the long pine forest in mid-Florida’s interior. Unpopulated. No lines.  No traffic back-ups. Plenty of seats for those attending.

Here’s what I wrote in my journal the day we left Anna Maria Island:

“We left AMI about 9:30 Saturday morning, packed into the Chicken Nugget, Lillian and Bobby strapped into booster seats at the dinette.  By 11:00 we were circling Tampa International Airport. We first said good-bye to Annie at the Delta drop-off, and then said good-bye to the Fox’s at the Red Terminal.

 And there we were – childless, family vacation behind us, on the road driving north, late morning. Oh, the quiet, oh, the fatigue, oh the letdown of time passing and moving on.  The last two weeks have been a bit of a blur – Mom dying, packing hurriedly, driving to Iowa in 6 degree weather, saying good-bye to Mom, spending time with family, the fast, long drive to Florida and then that week-long memorable family vacation on AMI.

Evidence of the cockaded 

woodpecker??

Long pine trees

So we drove all of 40 miles northeast of Tampa to Withlacoochee State Forest where we stayed at Cypress Glen Campground.  You’ll find it at the end of a hard packed dirt road. The campground is old and rustic-like but with electric and water hook-ups.  It was just what we needed – quiet and remote in the cypressy, swampy, long pine forest. This is where the red-cockaded woodpecker lives. That’s because red-cockaded woodpeckers only nest in long pine trees and since 97% of long pine forests have disappeared due to human activity, the bird was one of the first species to go on the Endangered Animal Act of 1973. Did I see one? Possibly. There are also downy, hairy, red headed, red bellied and pileated woodpeckers living in that neck of the woods. Sooo… what I did pick up with my binoculars while tree scanning was a smallish black and white woodpecker type bird hopping up a tree. Could I make a certain ID? No. But I’ve seen many downies and hairies, and this bird was not one of them, nor was it any of the other very recognizable woodpeckers that might be present. However, this bird was alone, as far as I could tell. And I found out in reading about it that it is a bird that lives in clans of 7 – 9 birds, so most often there would be more than one pecking for food in an area, and talking back and forth. I will continue my search for the elusive cockaded woodpecker.”

One more thing about that Saturday. Since it was really our first night out sleeping in the Siesta, we had some housekeeping to do.  Storage is always an issue, maybe THE issue, when one is driving one’s home around the country.  At first look, I thought the Siesta would fall short of the Pickle’s spacious overhead cupboards and under-couch drawers Michael added last year.  I’m glad to report the bags of ‘stuff’ we had hurriedly stashed in the shower before we left for Iowa found places behind cupboard doors and under the dinette cushions – with room to spare!

I am so thankful for state parks and state forests, as well as the national park system, that provide sanctuaries – for endangered woodpeckers and for us, too. The silence and space of the Withlacoochee Forest lulled us into that trouble-free, serene state of mind we needed. Deep breath.