Summertime

Summer type weather is with us again. The scattered rain storms have started to occur in the afternoon, the lake water is warming up to the point where we can swim again and the flora of the lake are emerging. Water lilies are sprouting up around the perimeter of Lake Bream - a welcome sight. Perhaps, with the occasional afternoon shower and the approaching storm season, the lake levels will once again be on the rise.

Caveat Emptor

Floyd's Diner in High Springs is a ways from Bream Lake and Hawthorne, but High Springs has something very much in common with Hawthorne: a nearby Sonny's BBQ. Floyd's, in my opinion, serves up some of the best short-order type food in North Central Florida. Sonny's, as everybody knows, offers some of the best BBQ around these parts . This can be seen above the cash register at Floyds.

Dreams of the Theater

My wife is a bit of an actress and I had a dream that she was starring in a gala production of Camille at the "Hawthorne Theater" (which doesn't exist). This is what I saw in my dream.

Dale Earnhardt Drive

NASCAR is big in the Bream Lake area. It's so big that some of the thoroughfares are named after its heros. Click on the image to see a larger view.

The winds..good and bad

This is a view of Bream Lake from our back yard. As you can see by the spanish moss, the winds were high today. The good news about this is the very pleasant temperature it creates. There is a coolness in the air that would not be there without those breezes. The bad news is very bad: further north and west of here, brush fires are raging through rural Florida and the high winds simply encourage and push the flames even further. But that's weather for you. Always something to talk about.

Bream in the Moonlight

This is not the first time I have mentioned the moon's effect on the lake. Last night I was immediately reminded, again, of how beautiful an almost-full moon can be at the lake. The image you see here is not of the moon, but is, instead, the moon's effect on the lake. The whole lake is alight with radiamce from the lunar orb. This image is the result of a 15 second exposure, so the amount of light is exagerated, but, as you can probably surmise, it was quite bright for 9:30 PM.

Lily Pads

They are looking particularly resplendent this year, even thought the water level in the lake is going down. I have been enamored of lily pads since I was a youngster and first viewed Monet's images of this marvelous plant. One of the things to watch is how birds, reptiles and insects use the pads to traverse acoss the water. Grackles are constantly hoping on the green discs, seeking insects among the green circles. Were I to leave this earth tomorrow, I could do worse that to spend eternity as a creature on a lily pad in the middle of a gorgeous lake.

Something You Will Never See in Central Park

Something You Will Never See in Central Park, originally uploaded by Gatorhank.

We recently went on a trip to New York City and visited Central Park, where this image was captured. When I got home I decided it need a little something extra, so I put a little church (between Hawthorne and Melrose) in the the park.

The Good Fishermen

The Rudds are back on Bream Lake and they're catching bass right and left. Young Ben Rudd pulled a 12 pount bass out of the lake yesterday and his father, Rick, caught 25 on the same day. They throw their catches back as soon as they land them. They are true sportsmen. Unfortunately the Rudds must leave Bream Lake soon and get back to their new home in Virginia. That's the bad news. The good news is that the fish are still there, waiting for the next good fisherman.

Sunrise on Bream

One of the many gorgeous morning occasions that happen at our house on Bream Lake. The cabin faces East and, as a result, we see no sunsets and many varied risings of old Sol. This was a particularly spectacular one in early March. This sight will be familiar to many of the inhabitants of the Four Lakes Community in which we dwell. I'm sure that the people on the East sides of the lakes, looking west, witness just as many wonderful sunsets. In fact, if my 3rd grade teacher taught me correctly, there is a sunset for every sunrise. Be sure to click on this image to see an even larger version on your screen.

Critter on the Move

Upon rising yesterday morning I decided to journey into nearby Hawthorne and grab a few groceries at Hitchcock's. I had just hit the paved part of Ashley approaching Holden Park Road when this little critter starting sauntering across the road. He looked about 2 1/2 to 3 feet long and was taking his time. I pulled the car over to the side of the road and got this snap as he scurried away in the direction of Holden Pond. I would imagine with the Spring weather we might start seeing a few more of our reptillian friends. Let's hope that when this one grows up, he finds plenty of fish to feed on and lays off the two-legged flesh.

Becoming one with nature

The days we spend at Bream are long and languorous. We watch things. We watch birds. We watch fish. We watch insects. We watch clouds. We watch critters. Everything is observed. There is a permanency about the place. It's almost as if we've become one with the surroundings, even though we are not present for the whole week, our hearts are till there. It is almost Thoreauian in nature. I think I am turning into a tree.

Croc on a Dock

Do you believe this? If you do, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. Although this is a phoney crocodile in this image of our dock, we've sighted a gator a few times in Bream Lake and in every instance it was swimming in a very remote corner of the lake and away from shore. Fortunately, we are relatively free of nuisance gators in our lake. I have a feeling that if one did happen upon us, he would be so full of the fish that are abundant at Bream that he would not be particularly interested in human meat. Keep your fingers crossed.

The Big Snub

Two birds meet on a dock. One is a sea gull, the other is a black bird. They eye each other and this is the initial result. A short time later, after each bird found out what the other was really like, they became good friends. This happened on our dock at Bream Lake. I think we all can learn a lesson from our fine feathered friends.

On the Deck

Looking more like passengers in deck chairs on the Titanic than Floridians, my wife and daughter are bundled up for a brisk February afternoon on Bream Lake. Although they were feeling a bit chilly, my grandchildren were running around barefoot, cavorting with their Scottish father and absolutely enjoying the break in the temperature.

Reflections

Since, at Bream Lake, we exist on the water's edge or, when recreating in the lake, literally on top of it, we see a myriad of images mirrored in the water, constantly coming back to us , showing us who we are and how we live. The reflections are every where and vary according to the light, angle, and relative calmness of the water. Depending on the amount of light hitting the surface, the lake can appear dark, almost black, blue, green or even brown. If the surface is mirror smooth the reflected images are crystal clear and ultra-realistic. If the water is choppy it offers an impressionistic rendering of our world. It is always fascinating, and yet we tend to ignore these wonderful images, being so familiar and everyday. I was on our dock, sipping a late afternoon libation, my camera at my side, when I looked back at our house on the water's edge and saw this. The version of the image you see here is inverted, adding mystery to the already enchanting act of nature. Click on the image to get a better view.

Hitchcocks

This is a tee-shirt we purchased at Hitchcock's in Hawthorne. In Gainesville we shop at Mother Publix. In Hawthorne it's Hitchcock's. The moment we enter the store we are greeted by a female voice (via the P.A. system) saying "Welcome to Hitchcocks's. We are proud to say we have spareribs on sale for...." All in a wonderfully mellifluous southern twang that could only have been comitted to tape by a Hawthorne woman. We visit Hitchcock's at least two or three times during our usual four day visits to Bream Lake and we are never dissapointed. I think you can find the cheapest meat on the planet there: stomachs at $2.50 per pound. The only problem is we haven't had the stomach to try them.

Bess

One of the three ducks that regularly inhabit our little section of Bream Lake. It's name is Bess (I'm using "it" because it could be a male). Bess is named for Harry Truman's wife. The three ducks are named Harry, Bess and Margaret (Margaret, of course, for Harry's singer/novelist daughter). If you've been to Key West you will recognize the name from the Magaret Truman Laundrette (because it's located at the intersection of Margaret and Truman streets). The ducks are fed a ration of whole kernel corn each day we are at the lake and they seem to expect it to be there at the right time.

At Last!

This may not look very interesting to you, but the sight is heavenly for those citizens of the Four Lakes Community of which Bream Lake is a constituent. They have finally begun work on that tortuously bumpy strip of road extending from the Alachua County line into Putnam County, winding through the lakes area, and eventually emerging onto Gordon Chapel Road. This is something that has long been anticipated by most of the community and will certainly be appreciated by our poor automobiles and trucks, which have previously been lead to early retirements by the damage inflicted by this washtub thoughfare.

Camp Conner-Byres

Not much happens at Bream Lake that the rest of the world would find exciting. We ventured out to the lake house today to check on things: make sure the plants were watered, feed the ducks and shiners, and hang our new L.L. Bean Lake House sign. The only other event that is occurring is the beginning of the paving of the dirt road that leads to our lake house. In a previous blog I described the travails of traversing this thoroughfare. A journey down this catastrophy of a road will jolt your fillings and push the family car significantly closer to the "previously owned dealer". They , the county road people, are beginning to make signs like they are serious about smoothing our journey to Bream Lake. Let us pray. More on this later.