Learning New Trails in the National Forest

I am one of those people who rarely gets lost, and I never have in forests.  In cities, that is a different story.  I suppose the woods make more sense to me.  Maybe I am highly observant or understand how the ecosystems come together.  Or I am just good at memorizing aerial maps. 

Photos from the trail, new trails.  The best kind of trail.  But I would say the same about the paths that I have been traveling for years. 

Osceola National Forest, March

Enchantment

 

This week has been good for painting.  I finished the oranges, Enchantment, inspired by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' Cross Creek:

 

Enchantment lies in different things for each of us. For me, it is in this: to step out of the bright sunlight into the shade of orange trees; to walk under the arched canopy of their jadelike leaves; to see the long aisles of lichened trunks stretch ahead in a geometric rhythm; to feel the mystery of seclusion that yet has shafts of light striking through it. [...] Here is home. An old thread, long tangled, comes straight again.

 

I began this painting in late January after a trip home where picked oranges in the yard.  It is one of those memories I will always have of growing up in west central Florida.  Around that time, an article by Jeff Klinkenberg was in the Tampa Bay Times about the citrus industry of the area.  It just seemed natural to paint them.   I completed most of this painting in a week, but let it sit for a month and then I returned to finished it.  I think that I will still play around with a few of the oranges, but it won't have any major changes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Few Firsts

 

I have made my first loop route in the Osceola National Forest!  Loops, as opposed to out-and-back routes, are true milestones for a runner in a new environment.  It means that I am gaining confidence on the trails (Florida Trail and all of those that intersect) and with the lay of the land.  I am understanding how the trail system works and how to use to get where I want to go. 

 

 

I also fell for the first time.  Somehow I managed that while walking.  It was a pretty hard fall, but I realized that I haven't had one in a while.  I usually average one good one a year.  I was due.

 

Yes, I am still walking, but with much less pain.  Even my quick walking which really is borderline walking, only left me sore for the next few hours.  I feel that I am getting better, just slowly.

 

 

This was the first time that I felt like I did when I was running, and running far.  It was the first warm, blue sky day in weeks.  Stunningly beautiful weather, a new route under my belt, and a dirt road on which to stretch and take in the surroundings, I don't know what could be much better than that.

 

 



Look What Came Today!

 

A few weeks back, I wrote a little piece for the Florida Trail Magazine.  It includes a few images of my paintings (two very recent ones and one from a painting class in college).  Today it arrived in my mailbox! 

 

 

 

I wrote how running cross country and finding Florida's parks and preserves has given me a home in Florida, but has also made my new location my home.   It was nice to finally get that written down. 

 

 

 

Thank you to the Florida Trail Association for allowing me to share a little bit of why I love natural Florida.  I hope that others can connect with it in some way, as many of us who call Florida our home were not born in the state.  I believe that we have made ourselves Floridians. 

Possible Progress!

I biked for 10 minutes hard!

Yesterday I used an upright stationary bike at my college's gym while I was back in town for our annual cross country alumni weekend (which was fantastic!).

I thought 10 minutes would be enough to cause pain if it was going to, but wouldn't cause me to be hobbling around for days after.  The pain after the workout was minimal (no pain during, surprisingly), and was probably just I-haven't-done-this-in-forever pain.  I plan on cautiously testing out a bike and a gym membership here at home.  I would love to start doing something active! 

Little Landscapes

These paintings started out as something I called my Pocket Prairies, but now they have developed into more diverse little pocket landscapes.   I am able to transform the vast landscapes that shaped my youth into mementos that I can carry with me.  The smallest is about 1x1.5in.  Now, I am able to have a bit of west central Florida with me during all of the transitions in my life.

Friends

She is undoubtedly the only person I know who truly understands how I feel about this land.  We are both runners, painters, art educators, and lovers of color.  When friends like this visit, no matter what the weather, we will embark on an adventure.  This particular Sunday happened to be cold, rainy, overcast, and wonderful.

Exploring off trail

 

Amongst the pines along the Florida Trail in the Osceola National Forest, time seems to stand still. Minutes seem like seconds, and the hours we spent out on the paths felt just as short. Reunited on the trail, it had seemed like no time had passed, although we had not spent a significant period of time one on one since Summer.

We spoke about teaching, school, birds, exhibits, texture, friends, relationships, and the future. We took pictures of the north Florida winter colors in an attempt to memorize their beauty and composed paintings in our heads. Photographs never do a landscape justice, we decided. We found tree stands, and scaled them, naturally, taking in the view from above. Only as we climbed down and made our way to the trail head, did we take note of the time. When did we start walking? We had forgotten to start our watch. So when do you need to head home? She would begin her teaching internship the next morning.

As we were walking down the last stretch of the dirt road leading to the car, an older couple in a faded blue pick-up truck, concluding a day of hunting, made their way down the road, as well.

"How long have y'all been out here?" said the man, clearly confused by two soaking wet, twenty-somethings walking down the flooded road.

"I have no idea," I laughed. Alone in the woods, we were able to talk like no time had passed.  Time on the trails seems to slow.  And, with good friends, that is always a good thing.