True Grits :30,375 Comments

 In my world, grits are never wet enough that a spoon is required and I never clutter them with shrimp, cheese, or any other Food Networkian hoopla.
Give me real butter, salt, black pepper, a crumbled strip of center cut bacon , a fork and a place to stand, and I can move the world.

So, I took a walk this morning in the drippy, dim light of an overcast sky. A cold front is moving through and it is delivering light rains and grey skies. The cool dim morning just called out for a walk, a photo walk sans le chien "Bear".

I took way too many photos of wild flowers and fall leaves, but they will have to wait for another post.

 Out in the weed choked hell garden, the rootbound, two foot tall Meyer lemon in the tiny pot has produced quite a pair. The poor thing deserves a better container and some actual soil. I don't know how the little impulse buy has survived the hot summer, let alone produce children.

The potted datils are still going strong even as November peers coldly over the calendar wall. Look at that plant! These datils are not only holding fruit, but they are  still blooming!
I have a huge batch still to pick plus a good store of 2011 datil seeds for the 2012 season, so check out the datil page above this post or the datil ad off to the right if you want some seeds.

The pepper in the picture is demonstrating one of the traits of datils ... a purple blush. Generally, the peppers go from green to green with purple blush to orange, but they don't always get the blush.

Again, I have the wilder morning dew walk photos in reserve for a post this week.

Now about those comments ...

First, imagine how dull blogging would be without the comment feature.
Ack!
Would we still do it?
To me, the back and forth aspect is about 60% of the blogging fun.
That's why I always feel guilty when life keeps me from commenting back on the two current posts that show each day on Pure Florida.

One thing I almost never do, however,  is go back to previous posts to read comments.  I just don't have time.
I long ago dropped the email comment notification feature since it was clogging my email and most were current comments I would see anyway.

Recently I was deep in Blogger and hit the comment tab. This of course shows all 30,375 comments here at Pure Florida.

While 99.9% of those comments are wise, funny, critical in an adult manner, narrative, encouraging, or empathetic, ... some just cry out for the be-yatch slap or at least a satisfying DELETE.

For instance ... way back in the archives there is a video of me moving a fat girly moccasin out of the road. Some of you expressed concern about my proximity. Fine. No problem with that.
One person shrilly called me names and said they would never want me teaching their children ... as if the post was a how to do moccasin removal for kiddies.

Another commenter freaked out when I pointed my finger at Bear and yelled, "BAD DOG!", as Bear made a lunge for an endangered gopher tortoise.  I had some fun with that as Bear is no where near the wuss that commenter appears to be.

Finally, a commenter just lost it over a post in which I surgically (with a razor cutter) removed just the stinging tip segment of one of our native brown scorpions so I could hold it and show it to my students.  The commenter called me a JERK and lamented how I had taken the scorpions ONLY way of getting food. Why I should have just squished it if I was going to do such a thing.
Now, once you get mean and call me a JERK on MY blog, you get deleted.
Had it been a civil comment that disagreed with what I did, I would have explained that scorpions and all their arthropod cousins regenerate lost body parts after a few molts. And with two chelipeds still intact, that scorpion could get by just fine until the new stinger came in.
At least bother to google your subject if you plan to chew me out about it.

I hope the scorpion commenter doesn't eat stone crabs ... only the claw is removed and the crab goes free to grow new ones. 
The horror!

I am sure, that in those 30,375 comments there are some other "PLEASE DELETE ME" whiners, but I am not going hunting for them.

Are these people irritating?
Yes.
Am I irritating sometimes.
Yes.
Do I mind debate or being corrected here at PF?
Not a bit.
Do I demand civility?
You're damn right I do.

A Happier Snake Tail

Emma has not only taken my place at my old school, she has also taken on the mantle of "Snake Go To Person" ... a title formerly owned by me.

The chief of maintenance just switched from calling me to calling Em whenever there is a snake to deal with on campus.

That actually happens quite often on the forest surrounded campus.

This time it was a tiny kindergarter.



Pretty dang cute.
What a squirmer!
I could hardly hang on to him for a few photos before releasing him in the snake-heaven known as PFHQ.



I get all nostalgic when it comes to garter snakes. They were the first snakes I captured and kept as a boy.


They don't make the greatest snake pet and never seem to totally  tame down like a ratsnake or kingsnake. I never kept them long for that reason.


Even so, seeing one always take me back to a big pickle jar containing some leaves and dirt, with a fresh caught garter snake peering out, and a little boy peering in.

Roadkill Rattler Rare Opportunity

The juvenile diamondback rattlesnake in this post was run over directly in front of my driveway entrance last week.

(Not by me.)

It must have happened only a few minutes before I slowed to make my turn, because the tail was still quivering when I knelt to look at it.

That movement faded in the time it took me to grab my Sony out of the JEEP.

While I was sorry to see the rattler had not made it, the situation did allow for a close examination of a snake that would normally be off limits.

Here is the business end.
Diamondbacks are pit vipers, and you can see the heat sensitive pit below, and in front of the eye in the photo above.  At night or in a burrow's darkness, these pits allow the hungry Diamondback to find the mouse, rat, gopher, mole, or rabbit as it hunts.

I'm always fascinated by the layout of scales on reptiles and fish. There are so many shapes, so many patterns to allow for a coat of armor that protects while not restricting movement.

On the dorsal side, the layout is one called disruptive coloration. The Diamondback is not attempting to match the background perfectly. There's too much variety in the landscape for that.

Instead, a pattern of spots, stripes, and geometric shapes "disrupts" the sinuous snaky outline, so that even a large Diamondback can be hard to spot against the background soil and vegetation.

This youngster was just getting started on it's rattler.

The scene above is the entrance to my drive. Behind the JEEP is the paved road where the snake was lying. The snake lover in me was sad to find a rattler killed while crossing the road. This is a species that is becoming increasingly rare in the Southeast.

The dog lover and personal pain avoider in me had to consider that every single morning before dawn and every night before bed, Bear and I walk this long sandy driveway so he can do his "bidness".

On these walks, he is always barefoot and I usually am.

Things to ponder.

After the pictures, I placed the snake deep in the palmettos.

F.A.S.T.ing

My absence here at PF has been due to my presence here in Orlando. I am attending the Florida Association of Science Teachers convention. The first day was full of field trip offerings, I chose a behind the scenes tour of SeaWorld.

We got up close and personal with a polar bear who ignored us as she dug for a treat buried in the snow.

After the polar bears, belugas, and walruses, we toured the wildlife rescue/rehab area. The picture above shows a sea turtle rehab center at Sea World.

The manatee rehab pools held three manatees. This one had apparently swam through some industrial banding at some point and it became embedded in his skin. The SeaWorld vets removed it and the wound, even though it still looks terrible, is actually healing.

Emma and the dolphins.

We both went to the FAST convention, she from her school, and me from mine. Her mentor teacher, Stacy, went too and we had a great time seeing the science behind Sea World.

After all, any day that starts with a chance to pet a baby shark pup has got to be a good day.

STRANGER IN A STRANGE orLANDo

I'm at the  F.A.S.T., (Florida Association of Science Teachers) convention.

Bit of a whirlwind, but details to come this evening.
Gotta dash to another event ....

Bear Gives Us The Run Around

On Dad's birthday, a garage sale was happening next door at the neighbor's house. The ladies went over the fence to go shopping and came back with a stuffed animal for Bear.

The video is a snippet of what happened next. I am in catch-up mode after a busy weekend at the seafood festival, so Bear is doing the heavy lifting here today.

The "Atta boy, Tiger" and "Show him how to run" commentary from off camera is my Dad enjoying the show.

CEDAR KEY SEAFOOD FESTIVAL PREPARAPALOOZA

GOOD GRIEF!
WE HAVE BEEN COOKING ALMOST EVERY EVENING SINCE LAST SATURDAY!

The picture above is a collage of scenes from the mega-chowder production day Saturday. The location is the professional certified kitchen of the Southern Sisters Hospitality company.
We made 30 quarts of Minorcan clam chowder on that one day. Since then the total volume has risen to about 50 quarts. It's all frozen now, but I will be up EARLY in the morning to bring it back to life.

I've lost count of the jars of Minorcan datil pepper relish that we prepared there, but I think it is over or around 50.
We are calling it Cedar Key Shark Sauce, since our Cedar Key School mascot is the shark, and the profits are going to the school.
Specifically, the money will help fund our Marine Science Program and our High-Q Academic team.

From now until sometime Sunday evening, all will be festival madness, so I have no idea what sort of posts will or will not make it to PF for the next couple of days!

COME TO THE FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND, EAT SEAFOOD, BUY ART, SOAK UP SOME REAL FLORIDA!

Plant A SSSSSSSeed

Not Zick, this is SSSSZack.

SSSSZack is a young Florida Kingsnake also, just like Zick, but he is a wildling, not captive bred.

 He is also injured. Last Friday, (the same day the gecko and the orphaned flying squirrels dropped in), one of my students showed up with SSSSZack.
"He's hurt, I found him by the sidewalk."
While I was happy that one of my kids was kind enough to rescue an injured snake, I had to temper that with a safety message to the whole class.
Being as diplomatic as I could, I tried to be grateful to my snake rescuer for his kindness while reinforcing the fact that as kids, they should not be out there grabbing snakes, since the penalty for mistaken identity can be severe.
We had the usual talk about leaving wildlife alone, which I present very convincingly, even if hypocritically, since I am a snake grabber since about the age of 9.

SSSSZack's injury is located about one quarter of his length back from his cute little head. There is a puncture and some swelling. Last Friday, I daubed on some Neosporin to try and prevent infection.

Since that time SSSSZack has been in a Rubbermaid hospital snake box here in the dining room. He is active and behaving normally except for reduced movement behind the injury.

It's not a total lack of snakey sinuosity, just reduced movement. The tip of his tail has movement, so it's not a case of paralysis.

Maybe it just hurts.

He seems to be showing some improvement back there, so we will see.

I didn't attempt to feed him, since I was afraid the meal might not get through the injured point or move correctly if his back end wasn't responding well.

I think I will attempt to feed him tonight since things are looking a little better.

Don't get too attached though ... I'm not sure SSSSZack will make it.

I will keep you posted.

Zick, on the other hand, is doing great.

I introduced "Zick" the baby Florida Kingsnake a few weeks ago here at PF. At the time I believe I mentioned that one of my reasons for bringing her into my classroom was to have her serve as a serpentine ambassador.

Because, y'all know that ...
t's easy to fear snakes if you never are around them.
It's easy to hate something you fear.
It's easy to kill something you hate.

It was my belief that having Zick in our class, watching her eat, bask, shed, and grow would win over the hearts and minds of my students.

I'm not always right, but there is solid evidence showing that I was correctamundo this time.

A few days ago, a cute little 5th grader came in asking about Kingsnakes.. It seems her classmates had all picked different snakes as research projects.
We talked about Zick and I offered to bring Zick down to the 5th grade for a visit if it was okay with her teacher.
It was.
The next morning, the same girl showed up with a tiny, 4 inch long ringneck snake.
"What does it eat? , she asked.
 We talked about ringnecks, and I encouraged her to let it go since it's hard to find food for such a tiny beast.
One day later, she walked in to my classroom with a young grey rat snake, all 9 inches of him. He was actually the perfect size to keep as a pet, so we talked about simple Rubbermaid box snake habitats and general rat snake care.

That afternoon, I walked down to the elementary wing of our tiny PreK-12 school. It's an older redbrick building with all the musty, booky, chalky school smells I remember from my own elementary experience.
I mean this building looks and smells like a REAL school.

After a few deep breaths of schoolhouse essence, I knocked on the 5th grade door and was greeted like a celebrity. The kids were pumped about their snake research and each one was an expert on their chosen species.(GOOD JOB 5TH GRADE TEACHER!)
I had Zick the Kingsnake in her Rubbermaid travel cage. We talked about kingsnakes, safety, and the good things snakes do. While we talked, I held Zick up so they could get a good look.
I wish I could remember all their enthusiastic comments, "Fabulously awesome" is one that stuck in my head.
After a while, I pulled a thawed pinky mouse from my pocket and they crowded around to watch Zick eat.
"Will she bite you?" they asked.

I assured them that even though any snake, even a pet one, could bite you, Zick was very tame and had never struck at me.

At that point, I dangled the poor, dead mousling by the tail to get Zick's attention. She was instantly interested and struck almost immediately.

For the first time ever, she missed the mouse and got my finger.

The entire 5th grade gasped in unison.
"SHE BIT YOU!"
I could feel her hanging from my finger, but it didn't hurt,... she's too small to even break the skin, so I just carried on.

In a moment, she let go, retargeted, and nailed the mouse.

Once Zick was committed to eating the pinky mouse, I backed off and let the children crowd in around the plastic box. They were completely awestruck as she worked the seemingly too large meal into her mouth and down the hatch.
While a few may have still had snake jitters when I left, I could tell that the majority of these kids thought snakes were pretty cool animals.

... and you gotta love that.

A Weekend of Waifs

It has been a weekend of pre-Seafood Festival cooking and waifs here at PFHQ.  We spent all day yesterday cooking 30 quarts of Minorcan style clam chowder in the Southern Sisters professional kitchen.

We are not done.

By next weekend, we need to make that amount two more times.
Y'all gotta come buy some and support the Cedar Key School kids.
... otherwise, I will be eating clam chowder into 2012.

Gotta make a couple gallons of Datil Pepper relish too ... sigh.

It's for the kids, it's for the kids, it's for the kids ... (my mantra)

In between all the cooking, a few forlorn waifs turned up, like this tiny Mediterranean gecko.

A student of Emma's brought it to her, and since I have a tiny colony of porch geckos living here at PFHQ, ... she brought it home to me.

Is he cute or what?

Emma also brought me not 1, not 2, but 3 baby flying squirrels. I don't know the story on these, except that another teacher passed them to Emma to pass to me to pass to the "Squirrel Lady" that I work with. We bought some pedialyte and milk replacer to get them through Friday night/Saturday morning, until we could pass them off to Squirrel Lady.

These 3 are older than little "Sharky" from a few weeks ago, so I don't know if "Squirrel Lady", will rehab them or if she will pass them on to "Flying Squirrel Lady" to rehab.

These 2 dedicated squirrel rehabbers have real names of course, I mean, I think they do.
They must.

Bear was not thrilled about being banished from the bedroom while the 3 flying squirrels were fed Friday night, but he tolerated his exile very well.

This is a recent photo of little "Sharky", the flying squirrel waif from a few weeks ago. Squirrel Lady forwarded an email to me that included this picture and the news that Sharky is doing great and is now 14 grams. He did have a turn for the worst at one point, but Flying Squirrel Lady pulled him through it.

Ya gotta love squirrel ladies ... and wildlife rehabbers in general.

It truly is a labor of love that requires lost personal time, spending personal funds, occasional heartbreak ...

... and success means saying goodbye to something you cherish.

MYSTREE

Hmmmm ... now who could this be?

Odd ... this picture reminds me I still need to get Bear fixed.

This MysTree was growing right at the water's edge as I kayaked the Waccasassa and Wekiva last weekend.

When I sliced one open, it looked like this.

One of the shrubby trees still had it's leaves about it. They are pictured above.

Who is it?

Kayaking The OTHER Wekiva River

Come on.
Grab your paddle and I'll show you some of the "other" Wekiva River.
Around here, we pronounce it "WE-KIVA" (LONG I, ACCENT THE WE)

The other Wekiva is down around that little town that the mouse ruined ... starts with an O, but it escapes me now.
THAT Wekiva is actually a state park.

This one is not, but it should be.

Push off from that bank and I'll show you what I mean.

Since we are going upstream from the mouth, we'll need to launch on the Waccasassa River first, then paddle up to the confluence.
When the Waccasassa curves to our left, we will go straight into the mouth of the Wekiva.
Here we go ...

The Waccasassa is a beauty in her own right, but like the Wekiva, she has some blemishes.
Curiously, each and every blemish is courtesy of us.
Imagine that.

Take this old shrimp boat for example ...

(PLEASE TAKE THIS OLD SHRIMP BOAT ... AWAY!)

This vessel is pictured in the second post here on Pure Florida, April 11, 2005. She was floating back then. Today she has floundered and is a derelict vessel crumbling and rusting away ... adding who knows what pollutants to the beautiful Waccasassa River system.

I could so RANT right now, but it is such a beautiful October day.

Paddle.

We are still on the Waccasassa and you can see how tidal she is, even here, miles from the Gulf of Florida.

This is a place where fiddler crabs scuttle over cypress knees as salty ocean slowly yields to spring fed freshness.

A juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night Heron totes a crab, that even de-legged, seems too big to swallow.

Could you look just a little more dino?
Sheesh.
That eye ... I think I saw it in the kitchen in Jurassic Park.
Clever girl.

We left the Waccasassa behind after that Night Heron.
Now, we are on the Wekiva. She's fed by Wekiva Springs, miles upstream from where you and I are paddling. The water is now clearer, the bottom cleaner due to a brisk current that issues from the spring.

It's still influenced by the tides ebb and flow, but right now, with the tide out, freshwater rules.
Let's push on upstream, when we poop out we can always turn around and cruise back with the current.

No telling what is up around the next bend ... and there are lots of bends.

Somebody ought to paint that scene.
It's classic Florida Cracker Cattlesqueish.

This Cracker bull was guarding his herd as they fed in the river swamp.
I was so focused on the cows up ahead wading into the river for a drink, that I didn't notice this guy ... just a few feet to my right ...until he made that low rumbling growl ... do cattle growl?
It sure sounded like a growl to me.

I was too busy gauging the depth of the river between my kayak and his horns to focus on his voice, but I think I know menace when I hear it.

How do you explain getting gored by a bull while kayaking?

2011?
1911?
1811?
1711?
1611?

It was a scene, so timeless and Pure Floridian that I just stared at the young bull as he glared at me, framed by cypress, palmetto, and palm.

Sometimes you just have to pause and drink it in.




There were more bends of course.
I'll tell you about them in another post.

Amazon Kindle Fire: I Just Drank The Kool Aid

It's an amazingly crisp, cool, fallicious day here at PFHQ today, so this will be a short post.
Right after I click "publish" I'm going out in search of photos and "tales" to share with you.

• I have a Bear video post coming up, so at some point this week, we can all get our Bear fix.
• A few minutes ago, I ordered (pre-ordered actually) an Amazon Kindle Fire. I was on the cusp of ordering the Kindle Touch two weeks ago, when I heard the news about an upcoming Kindle announcement, so I waited. I'm glad I did!  I won't get it until mid-November, but when I do, you will get a review here on PF.
• We were in St. Augustine yesterday for Dad's birthday celebration. He's 83, a polio survivor, and one amazing person, even with the challenges of age and the aftereffects of a vicious virus.
• The Gators lost to Alabama last night. The house is in mourning ... I tread lightly, not understanding what the big deal is, but knowing better than to say things like, "It's only a game". Once bitten, twice shy.
• Yesterday, standing in one spot at my parent's suburban house, next to the road, I watched two red shouldered hawks do aerial harassment of a larger red tailed hawk, saw a pileated land on a tree a few feet a way and do it's jungle bird call, AND gasped as a bald eagle soared overhead. ALL during a 15 minute driveway conversation with my brother. What the hell? It was like wild kingdom.
• The Datil Pepper festival was this weekend in St. Augustine. I didn't make it due to Dad's birthday, but I hear it was fun. Check your calendar this time next year, Pepperheads.
• Zick, the Pure Florida Kingsnake, shed this week for the first time. Her cast off skin was 52cm long. She is radiant in her rich new skin.

Now, I've rattled on long enough for such a beautiful day.
Time to get out there and find us something.