Lions and alligators and bears

Sunday 6 March 2011
Oh, my! We saw a stuffed Florida panther way bigger than any Utah cougar I've ever seen. Alligators were sunning on the bank of the Myakka River and BJ got some pictures. We saw a bear crossing sign on the highway which struck me as odd because we were in the middle of nearly endless orange groves. BTW, orange groves have a really nice fragrance. And the bees splattered on our windshield have very clear see-through guts.

We spent some time at the Myakka River State Park and visited the Canopy Walk Nature Trail. This was about a half mile trail through a mixed oak and palm, and palmetto forest. About 100 feet of the trail was on a raised suspension bridge at tree top level. At the end of the bridge was a tower about twice as high as the bridge, way over the canopy. We didn't see much in the way of critters but we saw forest as far as the eye could see (and one high voltage power line set). Somehow I had failed to realize there could be forest with about half the trees being palms or palmettos. The nature trail signs explained that in the summer this whole area is flooded. After climbing this tower both BJ and I agreed our leg muscles were sore, but would have been much worse if we hadn't been exercising them with long walks at amusement parks.

The Venice, Florida Ward where we started the day is friendly and I liked most of what I heard. The nice folks there had a testimony meeting that went about ten minutes too long, and then Sunday School went too long, and by the time we got to Priesthood Meeting after announcements there was only three minutes left for the lesson. The smart teacher summarized in three minutes and did a good job.

Tonight we sleep near Clewiston, Florida, and the evening breeze carries the scent of orange blossoms. Clewiston is south of Lake Okeechobee, the source of much of the Everglades water, so you could say we are in the Everglades except we are among too many people here. But tomorrow . . .