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Wednesday, November 20, 2019

DIGGING MY FIRST GRAVE

       Tomorrow they'll lower the body of Bernie Paris into ground. While I didn't know him I helped dig his grave today. 

    A burial from an earlier visit. Embalming and caskets are not allowed at this cemetery.  This person was wrapped and placed in a six-foot basket. 
     I'm a new member of Gainesville's volunteer grave digging group, "The Pick & Shovel Guild".  It's a jolly bunch made up mostly of retired folks like me.
     When someone dies -and their family wants them buried in the local green cemetery- we gather in the woods next to Paines Prairie.  It's a 900-acre conservation area and will remain woodsy, I'm told, forever.



       Here's how it works, you pick a good spot and set down a wooden frame.
After a moment of silence and an appropriate poem, you go at it with picks and shovels. 
 

    It took over an hour to dig down the required 42 inches. That is the best level for a body to "become one with the earth".

     After Mr. Paris is buried tomorrow his grave will be marked with a simple brass disc.  The family may decorate it with moss, pine needle, or flowers.
 

     A recent burial

   It felt good to be helping this stranger reach his final rest. When my time comes I'll be fortunate to be so honored.
           _____           __________________________
    (Two Days Later)
   I dug my second grave today.  When they announced the name of the deceased I realized I had gone to law school with him years ago...
Here's his brief obit from the Orlando Sentinel,

    A really good man is gone. Harvey Martin Alper left us on Sunday, November 17, just two days before his 73rd birthday. A green burial will occur at his chosen location in the woods near Gainesville and a local farewell gathering of friends and family will take place in the not too distant future. He will be missed by many fine people. Sorrow shared is sorrow lessened.


    

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

WINTER WARRIOR, The Scott Camil Story

    We were wandering around the Gainesville Art Festival last Saturday when I spied a familiar face.

    I had not seen Scott Camil, the well- known anti-war activist, since high school. After graduation he went off to fight in Viet Nam as I headed north to college. 
 

     Our lives have been very different and here we were, a half-century later, chatting about them and his new book. "Winter Warrior". 
 Scott as an ass-kicking Marine, 1967
 
  

     It is his illustrated story -from Hialeah to 'Nam- and finally landing in this North Florida town we both call home. The book is cleverly illustrated by artist Eve Gilbert.

     Camil spent two years in combat witnessing the horrors of war. After he was honorably discharged from the Marines he began pushing for peace.

    In 1973 he was one of the Gainesville 8, a group of anti-war activists put on trial for allegedly trying to disrupt the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach. None of the charges stuck and all were quickly acquitted. Several years later Camil was the target of a DEA drug sting in which he was shot in the back. He survived that too. 

 
    
    Now he has this 96-page cartoon to tell his story. He was nice enough so sign my copy, "From Hialeah to Gainesville, let's work together now". After a 53-year hiatus I am happy to help.
      When I saw him Sunday he and his wife, Sherry, were manning the art show's Sierra Club booth. As the old soldier spoke softly  he continued his fight for clean water, good government, and what he'd like most, an end to war. 
               _______________________

Thursday, November 14, 2019

SAVING FLORIDA'S AMAZING SPRINGS

   One of the many reasons we moved to North Florida was to enjoy the dozens of springs nearby. Unfortunately, their water flow is being severely reduced by bottled water companies and polluted more and more by agricultural run-off.
   Nestle Inc. alone sucks up 1.5 million gallons a day so you can buy their bottled water (Arrowhead, Poland Springs,  Perrier, etc.). They pay less than $200 a year for this privilege.
    There's much to do. Francesca and I have joined a group here that is working to preserve and save the Springs (and locally, the Sante Fe River that they feed into).  Below are amazing photos by John Moran, one of our members.


25 Reasons to Love Florida's Springs
photography by John Moran

Rock Springs


River of Dreams  Fireflies on the Ichetucknee 


Silver Glen Springs

Chassahowitzka Springs


Rainbow Springs

Three Sisters Springs/Crystal River


Cypress Springs

Eye of the Aquifer    photo by John Moran and David Moynahan


Little Fanning Springs


Merritt’s Mill Pond 


Juniper Springs

Alexander Springs

Jonathan Springs

Jackson Blue Springs

Ichetucknee Springs

Emerald Springs


Three Sisters Springs/Crystal River


Chassahowitzka Springs

Oasis in the Dark  •  Suwannee River     photo by John Moran and David Moynahan

Gilchrist Blue Springs


Sweetwater Springs


Ichetucknee Springs


Gilchrist Blue Springs


Weeki Wachee Springs

Ichetucknee River

Rock Springs


December Dreams  •  Ichetucknee Springs


Gilchrist Blue Springs

Naked Under the Stars  •  Naked Springs     photo by John Moran and David Moynahan



Rum Island Springs

Suwannee Blue Springs

Madison Blue Springs

Wekiwa Springs

Cypress Springs


Gilchrist Blue Springs


John Moran at Gilchrist Blue Springs/photo by Jenny Adler    
The Springs Eternal exhibit debuted at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville in 2013. 

Florida Springs: Paradise Found or Legacy Lost?
A video production of the Springs Eternal Project



More information on our springs can be found at www.floridasprings.org .  For our info on our current effort to protect the Sante Fe River, www.safebor.org .