Falmouth Spring, just off Hwy 90 between
Madison and Live Oak, FL, is unique:
the springhead is a “Karst window”, a sinkhole where the limestone has collapsed into an underground river allowing it to vent to the surface;
the outflow does not join an aboveground river (the nearest aboveground river is the Suwanee, several miles away) but instead siphons into another sinkhole to rejoin the underground river.
The pool between the vent and siphon holes is elongated and is called The World’s Shortest River, only about the length of a football field.
Geologically intriguing as well as a wild and secluded place to swim, Falmouth is one of my favorite Florida springs.

Florida’s springs offer adventures that should be on every bucket list.
The location of Madison Blue Springs makes it a convenient stopover for travelers on Interstate 75, which is why USA Today readers voted it America’s Best Swimming Hole.
Coastal beaches draw the sun and sand crowd, but Florida’s springs are for seekers of adventure.
Madison Blue Springs State Park is just fifteen minutes from I-75 Exit 460/Hwy 6.
Take a break from the drive to the beach so your family can kick off their Florida vacation with a splash in the spring!

An old wooden farmhouse on a dirt road is a fine place to practice the art of front porch sitting.
Properly done, front porch sitting is more meditation than indolence; it is an exercise in mindfulness.
Sitting silently through sunset to see the darkling grow or watching as pre-dawn blossoms into full daylight I am connected to the changing light, the sounds of creatures, the scents of trees and soils.
A front porch is a liminal space between indoors and outdoors, not quite at home but not really out and about, exposed to the world yet sheltered from the elements.
When I sit on a front porch all of my ancestors line up behind me and inside me…
And we all take in the view.

Natural beauty does not necessarily demand travel.
This is what I found this morning, just steps away from my front steps:

Beauty, like adventure, is where you find it…

…and NOTICE it.

LOOK AROUND YOU RIGHT NOW!

?

Last time I passed Barbie Beach in Turin, GA, all appeared normal…

…or as normal as it gets here…

Today I am shocked and dismayed to report that the Barbies are MISSING from their Beach!
The photo evidence posted just hours ago on their Facebook page shows a bare Beach… and not in the usual clothing optional way.
Could it be… the BARBIEPOCALYPSE?

More than a year ago, the pandemic shut down Sunday services at St James’ Episcopal Church of Quitman.
Easter Sunday 2021, for the first time in more than a year, I and my church family gathered as a congregation inside the church building.
For the first time in more than a year we heard organist Emily Wall pour out her soul for us, in music.
For the first time in more than a year we witnessed priest Fr Jim Elliott pour out his heart for us, at the altar.
And we joined our hearts, over our masks and six feet apart, with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven to celebrate the risen Christ, the Christ within us all.

The safest place to be, these days, seems to be outdoors.
Mo’s Mediterranean Table, newly reopened at Patterson and Central Avenue in downtown Valdosta, provides plenty of sidewalk seating in addition to the inside dining area.

On opening night, Friday April 2 2021, the lentil soup was excellent and the music was superb as delivered, hot and bluesy, by Bird Chamberlain on solo guitar.
Mo’s is my go – to for hot soup… and Bird is always cooking up some hot tunes!