The Adventures of Mom

The Young Explorers are back in Action! Actually, we never stopped, and took off flying as soon as our feet touched town. My son is back in school, and our daily trips bring us extraordinary sights, such as a red tailed hawk taking off from a mist shrouded field, his talons wrapped around a wriggling mouse. Also we have seen an unusually large amount of roadkill- and not just the usual raccoons and skunks (there are always skunks). We can now add a grey wolf, a deer (buck with antlers), opossum, and the mother of all wild boars (that was today- biggest pig I have ever seen- almost the size of a mini (car)). Of course, when your school is in a cow field, these sights are common rather than not. We have taken to swimming on the Rainbow River in Dunnellon (no more cool pool). At 72F it is chilly- actually like swimming between icecubes, but after a while you numb up and can’t feel the cold anymore.

The Swimming Holes:

The KP Hole County Park (Off of HWY 41 in Dunnellon- turn at the light by Winn Dixie) has been refurbished and now has proper toilets, changing rooms, lockers, and picnic tables. You can rent tubes or canoes or kayaks- and even buy an icecream. They charge $3 a head- under 5 free. There is no sandy beach. It is a wooden boardwalk with steps leading into the water. May be scary for littler non-swimmers, as water is waist deep for them. My three were not impressed- too deep and too cold at the same time, but as it was 90F or more, we took a chilling plunge.  We may return to rent a canoe.

Dunnellon City Beach (off of 484- turn at the road next to SunTrust Bank and follow signs) has been cleaned up, as it was a former “baddie zone”. They have fenced it in, charge $1 a head (under 5 free). There are toilets at the entrance- and then you take a path down to the water. A few picnic tables and benches and a fenced in playground make it a good lunch and swim spot. There is a beach! Not a sandy sea beach, but a river bank beach. We brought shovels and pails and the kids loved it. They built Nim’s Island (excellent movie), caught tadpoles and snails, and could walk into the water. Thumbs up for the City Beach. You can arrive by car or boat.

Rainbow Springs State Park was our third Rainbow River entrance (Park entrance on HWY 41 in Dunnellon).They charge $1 a head (under 5 free). My daughter and I decided to have a picnic lunch there, and we did Not bring our swim gear.We did stick our feet in the water and watch the tadpole and minnows. Rainbow springs is the head springs of the Rainbow River so all 72F is felt- brrrr- no time for warming up. The swimming area is not for non-swimmers. They have a pontoon dock were you can swim in their roped off area and a little further down they have a smaller, shallower area for kids- which is small and not as shallow as you may like, depending how water shy your kids are. You can rent canoes & kayaks there, and there are paths through gardens and past waterfalls (under construction at this writing). Good place for lunch and maybe kayak ride- will explore that later.

Autumn is creeping upon us, and the biggest question that comes to my mind- if I jump in the Rainbow River when the air temperature is 60 or below, will I be warm?

Keep exploring!

(Past two blog pictures by Sandy Smith- thanks sis!)

She cut her hair. My daughter never had much in the way of hair- in fact it took nearly two years for her to grow any at all- but grow it finally did- reaching the top of her shoulders when my littlest decided it was time to try a new do.

I had never taken my daughter to a hairdressers before, simply chopping off her bangs myself, usually uneven, as it is hard to get her to stand still. I trim my own hair and my husband shaves off both his own and our son’s military style when needed, so hair dresser was not in our vocabulary, but this past week, Sydney went to the hair salon for the first time. Having a stranger trim up her lopsided hair (it was amazing how much hair she chopped off in three minutes (I was nuking pasta for dinner at the time and thought she was washing her hands- hah!)), but the hairdresser was more punishment than any scolding or timeouts could have ever done, and now my little girl sports a pixie look reminiscent of Mia Farrow in her short hair days- or Twiggy, the model. It took a while to get used to (for me) and even now I get a jolt when I look at her.

I myself, the youngest of three girls (dear brother comes later) had short hair most of my youth- I think me and my sisters had that bowl cut (from a salon!) Sandy had the salad bowl, Sue had the cereal bowl and I had a soup bowl. Later on the hairdressers tried the- oh it’s cute, like Dorothy Hamil. To me, it was SHORT. But for a busy mom, I can understand- no more tangles to deal with, less drying time, etc- EASY.

When I finally found my voice and started growing my locks, I grew them long. Then my sister dared me to chop them off . It was my sophomore year of highschool. I could not resist a dare, and had it hacked off- that Dorothy Hamil look- cried for a week (or more) and vowed never to cut it again. Managed well until a friend lopped it off years later, telling me she only wanted to cut the damaged bits out and well- it was all damaged. I was so mad. Now I steer clear from well meaning friends with scissors and trim the ends myself- a trip to the hairdressers once every few years if I can get a babysitter.  So now I pass on the hair legacy to my daughter- every child cuts their hair (my son did it, my step daughter too) only no one cut it as short as my Syd- so those scissors are going on the high shelf and the next time a hair tickles her in the face- it’s off to the hairdressers for her!

I had really meant for this first post from our new place to be a closing piece on Lakeland, FL, but as I am still changing files over and have not yet downloaded the last lovely pictures we took on our final expeditions, I must set that aside for another day. I had no intention of writing another political rant, not after the oil company piece this summer, but John McCain’s announcement of his running mate caught my attention- along with a few other million people.

Sarah Palin is a MOM! Hilary Clinton is a mom, my sister-in-law had argued the other day, but to me, there is a difference- any woman who chooses to have more children than she has arms (I stopped at two) I consider gutsy. This Alaskan woman has 5 and one is a baby! I know little of Sarah Palin, except she was elected to run a state where men out number the women 10 to 1. And she is a MOM (did I say that already?)

I believe mothers are powerful, beautiful creatures with great abilities of diplomacy, budgeting (money and time), able to deal with varied personalities and quickly find the middle ground that will keep everyone happy- oh yeah, and able to run on little or no sleep for weeks (er, years as the case may be) at at a time. Her opposers are saying she has no experience, like Obama, but heck, five kids- she has a wealth of experience! Perhaps that is exactly what America needs- to be run like a family. Everyone has been trying to run it like a corporation for years- and guess what, it is not working! She deals with five different personalities all wanting something else for dinner and she has to come up with the one meal that will make everyone happy…yes, America is like a big, sprawling family, with the drunken uncle who shows up uninvited and has to be taken aside and admonished and sent on his way- in a cab, and the brother who can’t hold a job down and will bleed you dry asking for handouts- you have to deal with him because you need the money to feed your own kids! Then you have the two siblings who constantly bicker- he breathed on me, she looked at me! Yes, our sweet American family- love em or hate em, but we have to live with em and deal with it.

I know a lady who has six children, and she works. Erica is a fountain of information and inspiration. She is an amazing woman who deals with carlines, after school activities, homework meals and the varied personalities in her household. If Sarah Palin is anything like my wonder woman, Erica, I want her in the White House. America may need some time outs for naughtiness and start going to bed at regular hours and the love and discipline that a mom brings. Palin is not a woman jaded by Washington. She did not campaign for the vice president position- she was asked. She lives in one of the wildest places in America- and hunts and fishes- I bet she even does camp outs! I believe the White House has been waiting for a Mom for a long time…oh yes, and did I mention her hottie husband?