St. Mary's, Georgia: Chocolate -filled Eclairs and a Walking Photo Tour

I was invited on a walking photo tour in St. Mary's, Georgia, so I packed every lens  I own and headed north. I arrived well ahead of schedule, so I figured the proper course of action was to find some food. That's one of the things I relish about travelling: finding locally owned, non fast food restaurants. Last night I tried Riverside Cafe, a Greek restaurant located, well, by the river of course. I had the lemon rice soup, a quiche and a chocolate  creme filled eclair. It was all excellent, but I think the soup was the star of the meal. 

After languishing over my meal, it was time to wash up and gather my camera equipment before heading to Howard Gilman Park. My lens choice was the Nikon 70-200 2.8, but after a discussion  with the photo tour leader I decided to switch to the 17-25. I'm  glad I did.  My left hand is still bugging me from a recent sprain, and the 70-200 is heavy.

After some riotous group photos were taken (Brad Pitt somehow showed up at the tour ), we each went our merry way and started snapping.

Mistake Numero Uno: Wearing a cotton shirt in August. I was soaked, hot, and gross within 10 minutes.

Mistake 2: Forgetting to apply bug spray. Never forget bug spray, no matter where you go in Northeast Florida, South Georgia. Even if you're attending the symphony.  Put on the DEET!

Mistake Drei: A walking tour is not the time to test out your new shoes. Even if they are walking shoes, you should  really do a test walk before putting them into the fray.

So that's it for mistakes.  Everything else went quite smoothly. I wanted to do this walk because I'm trying to expand my photographic subjects. I have  photographed lots of bugs, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fungi and other natural subjects, and I wanted to try my hand at something  different.

There weren't many birds or bugs tempting  me back to my familiar realm, so looking for other subjects wasn't difficult. There was a flock or two of White Ibis that I dearly wanted to capture, but my lens was not right for the occasion.

I found that St. Mary's is a colorful place, full of quaint homes and shops all painted bright happy colors. So that's what I photographed. Happy colors.

At the end of the night, everyone converged upon Sharkbite restaurant to look at the photos produced. I didn't submit mine for public scrutiny as I'm too unnerved by the idea. So I drank a couple of beers and saw the work of other participants. It's amazing how different the photos were. Some people focused on architecture, while others were focused on beautiful sunsets and boats. They were all impressive and it was great to see so many different perspectives.

I'm a bit surprised by what ended up on my SD card. These photos don't look like anything Earline Gilley, bird photographer to the stars, would snap.

Things I Royally Suck At

Admitting my faults helps me to remember that I am not perfect and I am not expected to be. I have no idea why I am ever under the impression that I need to be perfect, flawless, intelligent, witty, doggedly persistent in all of my efforts, and all-around a winning success at absolutely everything I try. When I fail at anything (and that is often) I get this overwhelming sense of embarrassment, my self-confidence plummets, and I spend days interrogating myself on why I made such foolish mistakes. I spend a lot of time in that state of self-questioning and it is a rotten place to be.

So here are some of my faults.

I am horrible at playing games that involve deception and an ability to evaluate other people's motives. I cannot read people at all. Even when I have half the story, I still question and doubt. I then get confused. It will take me a lifetime to come to understand other humans with even the slightest bit of competency.

I am terrible at anything that involves maintaining balance (physical balance). Mountain climbing, hiking on extremely steep trails, walking tightropes, etc.  I get dizzy and wobbly. I really wish I had better equilibirium.

Running fast.
I am a turtle. I will never win any races. I may be able to run for a long period of time, but I won't be fast. It's OK. At leat I can endure the time,

Color coordinating my outfits.
Why bother? I just wear black and  brown and some purple her and there. It's hard to screw that up.

Cooking anything with more than 4 ingredients.
It's just too difficult to coordinate. I also get impatient  while cooking. I just want to eat, dammit!! Give me carrots, frozen veggies, rice from a rice cooker, yogurt, and whole wheat tortillas. I could live forever on just those foods.

Standing up for myself.
I can stand up for those who are weaker than me, but not for myself. I don't feel my needs are so important that I should make a big hullabaloo about them. I prefer peace over contention. I hate arguing. I avoid confrontation at all costs.

So there you have it. Some of my biggest faults, both physical and mental. I guess I'm pretty ordinary are after all.

Why run?

I used to despise running.  When I was an 18 year old weight lifter, I wanted to keep my body fat down. Running was the only way that I knew to do this.  It burned fat quickly.  I could get it done and overwith, then move on to the "real" workout, that of lifting weights.

I am not that 18 year old girl anymore.  I don't want the massive muscle weight that I had back then.  It was starting to make me look like a boy, and that's just not the look I am going for now.  Not that I am going for a particular look.  I just know what I don't want.

So, back then, I ran 4 miles 3 or 4 days a week.  That in conjunction with daily walks kept me slim enough. Today, over 24 years later, I find that running is serving some other purpose. I am not sure how it morphed into an activity that I actually enjoy. And I am not sure why I keep doing it.  I just know that I want to keep running for as long as I am possible.

I have lost 117 pounds in the past 5 years.  100 pounds of that weight loss came from walking only.  It was fast walking. Then I noticed a complete halt in my weight loss, and I knew I had to step it up a notch. On one of my walks I decided to run the length of about 4 houses.  Maybe 250 feet at most.  I did it, and I was proud and surprised.  The next day I tried to run twice as far.  And then further.  Eventually I got to a mile.  At that point I felt that 2 miles was probably going to be my max distance.  I would be happy with myself forever, I told myself.

Of course, after two miles, then a 5k was the next logical step.  Eventually I was doing a 5k every other day day while walking every other day.  This worked nicely and the majority of my remaining weight came off during this period.

Then I got the ridiculous idea that I would climb Mt. Rainier.  Running 5 miles a day 4 days a week was in order.  I hiked with a 20-pound backpack.  I ran up bridges.  I did the elliptical machine every evening along with my runs in the morning.

I didn't make it to the top of Mt.Rainier, but it had nothing to do with my cardiovascular health or my leg strength.  It had everything to do with a lack of  balance and a frightening fall.  But I did get more mountain climbing done in that one trip than ever before or since.  I have no desire to tempt fate again.

After the mountain climbing fiasco, I had a surgery that kept me from running for 8 weeks.  Ahhh!! It seemed like forever.   But I did the right thing.  Soon after my "sabbatical", I entered my first race, the 15k Gate River Run in 2015.  I wasn't sure I could run that far, so before I officially signed up, I decided to run 9 miles in my neighborhood.  Once I had that obstacle out of the way, then doing the race didn't seem implausible.  That was 7 months ago, and I have run at least one race per month since.  And my courses now are on the trails. I run paved roads on weekdays, but weekends are where I really want  to be: on a trail.

Trails I've run:

UNF
Bayard Conservation Area
Black Creek Ravines
Little Talbot Island
Tillie Fowler Regional Park
LC Ringhaver Park
Nocatee Greenway
Julington Durbin Preserve
Guana Tolomato Preserve
Gold Head Branch State Park

Trails I want to run:
Anything in Amelia Island
Cary State Park
San Felasco Hammock Preserve
Wekiva Trail
Anywhere in Suwanee State Park
Ocala National Forest

Goals: Is a 50K in my future?

Now that's just silly, isn't it?   A 50k?!  I haven't even completed a half-marathon yet.  What makes me think I  can skip right over the standard marathon and dive into a 50k?

I plan on doing a half-marathon before this year is up.  That means I have 4 months.  I will do it, but it's a matter of choosing the right one.  I think I am going to do only long trail races from hereon out and some short road races. To me a short road race is a 10 - 15k or less. Half marathons, marathons, 25ks etc will be on trails only.  I do this for a couple of reasons.

1. I will always run on roads.Probably more than half my mileage will be on roads.  I can work on speed on the roads.
2. Trail races, typically being longer races in general, are normally easier on the joints for me.  I may as well do my long races on easier surfaces.

Bugs : Sometimes it's hard to love all living creatures

This is no great revelation, but  biting bugs are evil, nefarious creatures who put a big a major damper on my outdoor fun. It's a quandary for me though.  I try to love all animals.  The ugly ones, the slimy ones, especially the ugly and slimey ones.  When it comes to the mean ones, though, I have a heck of a time loving them.  My theory is this: if an animal threatens me, then I am within my rights to repel, smack, or squish  it in an effort to avoid pain and infection.  I don't think anyone would argue with this, except for some religious orders that refrain from killing anything at all.  I'm not a member of one of those orders.

It's August in Florida.  Yellow flies abound.  Mosquitoes are easily repelled with large does of DEET, but it doesn't quite have the same deterrent effect on yellow flies.  Yellow flies are resilient, silent attackers who like shady areas.  Get into an open, sunny pasture and the yellow flies will dissipoate.  If you find yourself along a shaded trail, then you might be in for some trouble.  It's been over a 6 days since my last run-iin with yellow flies, and I still have a almond-sized welt on my left ankle.  I cannot stop scratching it!

Long Run: Fort Caroline National Park and the Creepy Stalker Dude

Two hours of running. One hundred twenty minutes. I didn't think I was going to complete this. I had some decent excuses. Yellow flies plagued me while on the red trail near Spanish pond. If you were anywhere in the area I'm certain you would've heard me yelling explicatives in the most unladylike manner, all the while soundly smacking myself to deter those biting beasts. Oooh, I do not like yellow flies, or any creature that bites me without provocation.

Another excuse was rain. It wasn't  just some drizzle. It was a full-on downpour complete with crackling lightning hitting the huge oaks overhead. The Fort Caroline area is hilly (yes, I found some hills!) so rushing water and 6 inch deep puddles got in my way too. But I splashed and stomped through those with childish glee. After my mud run 2 weeks ago, I've come to like puddles and small river crossings. They're fun and they instantly take you back to being a goofy kid. My new trail running shoes are now baptized.

But the most worrisome excuse I had today was that a creepy man in a red hatchback was following me, observing me. He drove his car slowly up to an intersection he knew I would cross and then watch me as I went by. He did this 6 or 7 times. After 15 minutes of this I became truly nervous and pulled out my phone to text my sister and hopefully snap a pic of his license plate. That seemed to deter him, and he immediately drove away. I reported the incident to a national park ranger who called a law enforcement officer. You never know what people are capable of, and I certainly don't want him doing that or worse to someone else.

But, the creepy guy kept my mind focused on something other than my aching hips. By that time I was already 90 minutes into the run. No excuse for not finishing.

And two days later, I decided it's time to start carrying some form of self-defense on my runs. Although I have a concealed weapon license, carrying a handgun while running just isn't feasible. A gun in my pocket would just cause my shorts to fall down, and then I would attract all sorts of unwanted attention! Mace will do the trick. It should ward off misbehaving, biting dogs too, yet another of my recent trail  interludes. Heavens, this running thing is getting ridiculous. Dogs snapping at my behind, creepy men following me, what's  next? I'm a little afraid to find out.

Trip Report: Nova Scotia

I'v returned from my Nova Scotia  adventure. My wallet is a bit lighter ( I never should've walked into that camera shop in Truro), but my heart is definitely lighter as well.

I always assume that on my little trips I'm  going to learn something about myself, something I just wasn't aware of or that was slightly hidden from my conscious mind. This time I didn't necessarily learn something about myself as much as I learned a lesson. While in Advocate Harbour at the Cape d'Or lighthouse I met some native Nova Scotians. I mentioned to them that I was in their lovely province to take photos and to do some running. And I also mentioned my issues with Florida, namely that subjects for landscape photography are meager and boring in my flat, mountainless state. And my trail running suffers as well since we have no hills.

We spoke of other things. Canadian healthcare, their liberal ideals, economy, etc. But when all was said, I came to realize how proud they were of their region of Canada and the natural beauty of their country in general. They listed off places I should visit, creatures I might see, trails I could traverse.

They left after some engaging conversation around a bonfire, coupled with Merlot and lots of bug spray. Their pride and spirit impressed me deeply. I found myself hoping that if I were host to out-of-town travelers that I could represent Florida with as much pride as they had shown. Florida may not have mountains,  raging rivers, glorious waterfalls, or prairies strewn with glacial boulders, but we have other things that can capture the senses. Creatures abound at all times of the year and we have water everywhere you turn. Anywhere you are in Florida you will find a kayak launch probably within five miles.

I may not find jaw-dropping views of mountain tops or canyons, but I just need to look at my surroundings with a slightly different perspective. I think that a true visionary can find beauty in the most ordinary environment. It's just something I need to work on.