crackers

not the kind you eat... yesterday we visited a nature reserve not too far from us.  on the grounds there were a number of old buildings and a small museum as well.  in the museum there was a very interesting exhibit on the Crackers of Florida.  of note, while we think of this as a disparaging term today- roughly equivalent to red-neck, it is actually a term long in use to describe white settlers of mostly Celtic background that were extremely self-sufficient and not always poor. 

the nature reserve had several trails for hiking through wetlands (swamp) and other habitats.  we chose the mile long board walk trail to stroll and found it quite lovely.  we saw small signs of springs impending arrival.  

here at the River Cottage this is even more evident as a number of plants along the river's edge that have been brown are now greening up with the special spring green color that we all look forward to through the winter. 

above - you can see the spring green new leaves on the trees across the river

I joked to our landlords that I never understood how Thoreau could have lived on Walden Pond all that time and not gone completely out of his mind, until we came to River Cottage.  now I know how fascinating it can be to slow down and appreciate more subtle changes in our surroundings.  after the stress of the last year this is a perfect way to restore our spirits.  and that is without even mentioning the 24 inches of snow we missed at home this last week!

big day

for kitties!  they got a visitor from the river. 

they spent almost an hour watching him very carefully! LOL so they too are big fans of River Cottage. 

life on the river

is ever changing and ever interesting.  yesterday I awoke early and found this lovely misty morning on the river.

later in the day it was "like glass"

and this evening we had an beautiful sunset to end our day - which we had spent on the deck - reading and relaxing on a Sunday afternoon.

I remember reading in the comments by former renters here at the River Cottage that they had all kinds of plans but didn't accomplish nearly what they thought they would because the River Cottage "wouldn't let them go."  and now we know it is true for us as well.  while we didn't have big plans- we certainly are enjoying our laid back time here.