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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iESsj-hunog

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 .

IAN'S SUPER CYCLING ADVENTURE

         Ian never asked for a bike for Christmas. Sure, my youngest son got one long ago but back in the day my 25 year-old preferred getting around on a skateboard. All that's changed and now he's riding a big brown Salsa Fargo from Austin to Miami.



       He stopped in Gainesville this week to share fascinating stories from the road. Ian has met smiles and kindness all through the southern strand. Strangers -who are a part of a network hosting long-distance cyclist- have invited him into their homes. In Louisiana a woman gave Ian a hundred-dollar bill to remind him that Jesus loves him.

    My son's adventure has him hugging the coast, from Texas to Miami, far from the interstates that suck us in. On some days he'll take a ferry ride from one island to the next. Francesca and I caught up with him last week 80 miles east of Tallahassee in Lafayette Blue Springs State Park. What a thrill to see his familiar face gliding smooth through the forest that leads to Suwanee and the clear spring next to it.

 
     Moments later we jumped in.
 
    Ian has met many fine people along the journey. Many ask, "What charity are you riding for" and he reminds them that you can do what he's doing just for fun.  He told me, "People should not need me on bike to help others" and I tend to agree.
     Ian has spent a week with us now eating everything in sight. That's allowed when you are burning 4000 calories a day.  Ian's averaged ride is 75 miles a day with his longest stint being 120. 
   

    This morning Francesca and I rode with him a bit as he headed down Gainesville's Hawthorne Bike Trail.    
     His speed picked up considerably after we reached University Avenue and hugged him goodbye.

 
    Before we parted, Mike, who had just ridden his silver steed from Chicago, rolled up to say hello. He was the first long-distance biker Ian had encountered in a month and 1100 miles. 

    Nine hours later, he reports, he has set up his campsite next to Salt Springs in Ocala National Forest. "It's so beautiful here," he told me with his usual enthusiasm, "the springs are perfect -not too salty- and I got to swim with crabs and rays!".
    It's enough to make his tired old dad consider  getting serious about this biking thing. I guess I could do it. Jerry, Ian's 69- year-old campground neighbor tonight, just pedaled his bike from Pennsylvania.   
     Who knows?  I could lose a few pounds, and, perhaps receive occasional reminders that Jesus loves me.
              ____________________________ 


 
Ian's left shoe has faded from facing the sun everyday for a month.

A NEW HOME

         I've been writing "The Grove Guy" for decades in community newspapers, the Miami Herald, and  on this blog. It's always been about my experiences in my home of forty-five years, Coconut Grove.
      Francesca and I recently moved to Gainesville, Florida. When some ask, "Are you now the Gainesville Guy?",  I tell them I have no idea. The blog name isn't a big deal. I'm just a guy who likes to share stories. 
    I was wondering though, where they would come from after I landed here. Now I've learned they're just down the street no matter where you live.

I LOVE A PARADE
     Four days ago I heard a commotion in the distance. I rode my scooter south to see the University of Florida's homecoming parade passing by, the one I was in fifty-two years ago.  The local volunteer grave digger guild marched with shovels chanting, "Hey hey, ho, ho, we dig the hole and in you go!"

They'd be perfect for the King Mango Strut.

    A few minutes later Florida's Miss Watermelon
smiled and waved. My day was complete.









LOST IN A BOOK 
     The next morning I encountered The Shirtless Reader. In his early eighties, he is a neighborhood legend. While his mind seems lost in a book his feet seem to know where to go. If he starts out early he'll have a book-aimed flashlight stashed in his armpit.  If he ever pauses between chapters I'll try to introduce myself.

RHYMES WITH "DADDIO" 
     Last Saturday a neighbor set up a front yard table as if preparing to sell lemonade. Susan told me her house was a part of the town's annual "Catio Tour". After she handed me a brochure I  learned these are backyard feline palaces.
                                                     Mowgli
Francesca and I followed her to the back of the house see where her cat, Mowgli, spent his afternoons. The fenced-in cat patio included a stairway, a cat cottage, and a sunbathing area. If Sue's house was a cat prison, this was its rec yard, safe from wandering dogs, occasional coyote, and curious grove guys.

 CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

     I play softball twice a week in the local senior league.  Three weeks ago I attended a presentation of one of my team-mates, Dr. David Shoup. He's got a new book out about UFO's.  The retired University of Florida engineering professor has had multiple encounters with extraterrestrials and even worse, menacing government officials trying to cover them up.  

 Me with my buddy, Dave. His book is available on both Amazon and Kindle.


While UFO sightings might seem strange, consider this; last month- for the first time- the U.S. Navy admitted its pilots have seen and photographed flying objects "not of this world". The subject makes many of us wonder but Dr. Dave is certain that we are "not alone".
      My wife and I are not alone in Gainesville either. While missing our old South Florida friends our new ones are keeping life interesting. Also, I'm planting a small grove of fruit trees in the backyard so maybe I can still be a grove guy.
                       ___________________


Hot Tip:
  The Tom Petty birthday celebration comes to town in two weeks. Thirty bands, craft beer and free music.