Her Face

I touch her face with my fingertips.

I feel her soft skin beneath my fingers.

But I also feel her body pressing against my fingers.

I feel all that she is pressing against my fingers.

I feel all that has come before pressing against my fingers.

I feel the world pressing against my fingers.

A touch is never simple.

Project365 – Day 40

Beautiful scene yesterday – today – not so much. Just the stuff that gets me through the day on occasion.

Project365 – Day 39

Just down at the river again. I could go to this same spot and get a different picture everyday. Views of the river, or look in the other direction at the marshlands, or down at the old bridge structure I am sitting on. Limitless.

Dollars and Nature

Yesterday the sun came out and after eating a big plate of banana nut pancakes, I knew it was time to take the mountain bike out again and go exploring like I did last weekend. I love the convenience of being able to ride a mile from the house and find myself in the middle of nowhere. However, after all the rain, I figured it would be extra muddy which might prove to more challenging than I was willing to deal with, but I wouldn’t know if I didn’t take a look.

As I hit the trail I discovered that while there was more water than last week, it was manageable. Last week I limited my exploring to my side of the railroad tracks, and yesterday I expanded my territory by going over the tracks. On the other side of the tracks I found a decent trail and followed it to the river and found some sort of water pumping station, and an old rusted structure that used to be a bridge at some point in time. Yesterdays Project365 picture was of this structure.

From there I rode south following another trail along the river. On this trail is where I got the crap scared out of me when I ran into an alligator sitting on the side of the trail. Amusingly enough I had just been thinking about alligators as I stopped to take a picture near the water. But I was still surprised when I came across the alligator. From there I continued to follow the trail as it made its way between the river and the marsh. I had reviewed the area on Google maps before leaving the house, and I had Google maps and Google Earth on my iPhone to know where I was and to have a general idea of where I was going.

I found a trail that looked like it would take me back in the general direction that I needed to go without going back by the alligator, but I found the trail had a 30 foot wide puddle covering it where the two sides of the marsh had overflowed and joined up on the trail. So I backtracked and found another trail going in the same direction that was parallel to the flooded trail, but after taking a closer look at the “map” I realized that this trail would dead end into the marsh and I would be stuck again. So I backtracked and got the crap scared out of me again when something made a big “plunk” in the water as I rode by.

When I got back to the river, I started following the river south again as I thought this would lead me to an escape. But after a while I stopped to take a closer look at my current option after having learned my lesson to zoom in on the map to find those small breaks in the trail that are in reality 50 feet of marsh. In doing so I discovered that I was again heading into another “dead end”. Crap. OK, time to backtrack and go past the alligator. Go fast, but not so fast that I miss his new location in the event he was laying across the trail or hiding in a tree waiting to jump on me. (Just seeing if you are paying attention).

Fortunately, the alligator was still on the side of the trail and everyone was happy. And once I made it back to the “high” ground I stopped for a well deserved break, and some fun (I got naked!) before I started heading back towards civilization. But I had not had enough, and when I got back to the north where I had first crossed the railroad tracks, I decided to ride down the trail that I had originally intended to ride on yesterday just to expand my territory. Then on my way back home as I was riding along the trail there was a puddle of water on the trail and figured, “what the heck”, and about that quickly I sank into ankle deep muck. Oops. Squishy boots. But I made it back to the railroad tracks and got across just before a train came through and rode on home.

I love riding and exploring the area. I am always amazed at what nature has to offer. I especially like riding my mountain bike along the trail. Breathing hard and taking it all in. It makes me feel so alive. And I love taking photos so I can come home and show you what I saw. I can’t wait to go again!

However, at one point yesterday I found this sign laying on the ground. This got me curious, and when I got home I looked up the Vallambrosa Plantation on the internet. What I discovered was that this land (around 60,000 acres) that I was riding on used to be a rice farm and other undeveloped land, and is the location for a proposed development that includes medium to high income housing, condominiums, resort hotels, a Jack Nicklaus designed golf course, and marinas along the river. You have got to be kidding me. Here is this beautiful landscape and someone wants to turn it into a development.

I guess the dollar is mightier than nature.

Project365 – Day 38

I went for another ride on my mountain bike today and took a whole series of pictures. It was a difficult decision as to which picture I should use today.

The picture I settled on is this structure about 100 yards from last Sunday’s picture. I might do another posting tonight with some of the other pictures I took today, and you can also find some other pictures on twitpic including one of the alligator I ran into.

Project365 – Day 37

Marine Rose – In Memory of Those Who Served. Forever Remembered.

Project365 – Day 36

A very old tree, Spanish moss, and rain.

Project365 – Day 35

“Red in the morning, sailors take warning. Red at night, sailor’s delight.” At least that is what my father taught me.

Looks like we’re in for a storm today.

Project365 – Day 34

My nemesis today. 8 sets of 5 pull ups and 5 chin ups.

Project365 – Day33

Shitty day – shitty lunch. Sorry McDonalds.