trees | Serenity Spell

Dec 7

Riverbend Park

Riverbend has been by far one of our favorite places to hike, of late. There are expansive networks of trails (for the beginner as well as for the more experienced explorer), including the Ocean-to-Lake portion of the Florida Trail. A wonderful extension of the Florida Trail can also be picked up across the street from Riverbend — accessible through the park (under Indiantown Rd.), or creatively hoofing it across the street, near the river. We jump a fence for quicker and easier access, but it can be difficult to find if you don’t know what you’re looking for. It’s a fantastic trail, with a gorgeous watering hole, canopy trees, and miles of hiking, that leads to Jonathan Dickinson. (Several pics below were taken along this trail.)

Within Riverbend proper, besides the nearly 10 miles of hiking and biking trails, there are 7 miles of equestrian trails, and 5 miles of canoeing/kayaking trails — leading you through an otter preserve, and all the way to JD as mentioned. What I especially love about this park is its significant and rich history: Habitation has occurred along the Loxahatchee river dating as far back as the Archaic Period, 5,000 years ago. The first battle of the Loxahatchee, referred to as Powell’s Battle, took place on January 15, 1838. The second battle of the Loxahatchee — Jesup’s Battle — occurred nine days later on January 24, 1838. Outnumbered 1500 to 300, the Seminoles fled into the swamps. After the Battle of the Loxahatchee, Jesup petitioned Washington to allow the Seminoles to remain in the Everglades, effectively ending the war. Washington denied his request, and 600 Seminoles were captured at Fort Jupiter. From its ancient Indian middens, through the tragic Seminole War Battles, to its impressive present-day restoration efforts, tremendous respect should be given to this land and its history. Habitats include beautiful pine flatwoods, open meadows, cypress swamps, oak hammocks, and even abandoned — but still fruit-bearing — orange and grapefruit groves. It can become busy on the weekends, so if you’re able to visit on a weekday during the quieter hours, it’s much more peaceful (or, visit the less-traveled Florida Trail extensions). We’ve seen great horned owls, red-shouldered hawks, deer, alligator, wild turkey, peacocks, gopher tortoises, and otter during such off-times.

We’ll picnic here, along the river or within park in the chickee huts, before our hikes. As always, bring extra trash bags, in case there are no cans in sight until the park’s entrance. (Although here, that’s not such a problem.) We often pick up others’ trash along the way, anyways.

For More Information:

: Peacocks roam the grounds at Riverbend Park

: Pretty Peacock in the Daisies, Riverbend Park

: Sand crane, part of the local family that lives at Riverbend

: Typical large pathway at Riverbend Park

: Old Homestead, Riverbend Park

: Lovely Trees at the Seminole Battle Sites, Riverbend Park

: Beautiful trees among the old battlegrounds of Riverbend Park

: Large trails at Riverbend Park

: Lake/Swamps in Riverbend Park

: Cypress swamps, Riverbend Park

: Off-trail river, Riverbend Park

: Off-trail lake, Riverbend Park

: Crossing into the FL Trail from Riverbend Park (Across Indiantown Rd)

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Nov 16

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Clyde Butcher, Visionary of the ‘Glades

Clyde Butcher, from Clyde Butcher's Online Gallery and Website

Originally trained as an architect, landscape photographer Clyde Butcher has been exploring and capturing the far reaches of nature for more than 40 years. With his Deardorff, Wisner, and self-designed “Clyde-O-Wide,” Butcher hauls his unwieldy camera equipment (weighing 100-125 pounds) deep into the swamps of the Everglades, where he wades into the waters (and sits — for hours on end, with alligators and other critters) to catch eye-level, pure black-and-white images of such grace and beauty, that words cannot do them justice.

Butcher’s love and passion for nature — and specifically, for the chaotic beauty of the Everglades — gleams through every photograph of his swamps, rivers, bays, and oceansides. He embraces his spiritual connection to nature, and translates it through the photographic medium. Understandably, Butcher is a fierce conservationist; he yearns to protect and preserve wild Florida and its incredibly unique wetlands in the midst of ever-encroaching humanity, and in the face of voracious developers. “My goal,” he says, “is to let people see Florida and make up their own minds whether they want to keep it or not.”

“Wilderness to me, is a spiritual necessity. When my son was killed by a drunken driver, it was to the wilderness that I fled…and being close to nature helped restore my soul. My experience reinforced my sense of dedication to use my art form, photography, to let people know our land is a special place, and to inspire others to work together to save nature’s places of spiritual sanctuary for future generations.” —Clyde Butcher

I’ve been lucky to visit the Big Cypress Gallery, and stand in amazement in front of my favorite photographer’s enormous works. For years now, I’ve said that when my millions arrive … one of these pieces shall be my first purchase. C’mon, millions. Butcher will always be one of my heros — environmentally, spiritually, and artistically.

"Fisheating Creek 14," from Clyde Butcher's Online Gallery and Website

“Like the work of Ansel Adams, Clyde Butcher’s remarkable photographs gives us an access to nature we rarely see or experience. They not only reveal the intimate and majestic beauty of the Everglades — and the need to save the fragile environment — they also remind us of the abiding kinship we mortals share when we work together to preserve these magnificent places. Butcher’s art is a national treasure.” —Ken Burns, Emmy-winning filmmaker

For More Information on Clyde Butcher:

For More Information on Big Cypress National Preserve:

Oct 28

The World’s Oldest Trees: Protecting Our Ancient Living Citadels

The Big Tree is Nature’s forest masterpiece, and so far as I know, the greatest of living things. -John Muir

SLIDESHOW: The World’s 10 Oldest Living Trees

As may be suspected, I have a thing for trees. Their beauty, grace, strength, and perseverance are constant reminders of our need — as caretakers of this beautiful sphere — to honor and safeguard these living entities. Upwards of 5,000 years old, they’ve borne witness to the rise and fall of entire civilizations; just imagine. But their gentle tending roles in the more immediate natural scheme are just lovely — I recently replanted a young tree, just a tiny sapling really. Within a day, baby birds were flocking to its young roots and branches for sanctuary. Days after we planted our live oak, mockingbirds were building nests, and our neighborhood [foreclosure] cats were relaxing in the young tree’s afforded shade — a highly valued resource in over-developed South Florida.

Counting the ways in which trees help the planet at large, though, is overwhelming — reducing carbon, providing oxygen, lifting and releasing water, filtering air and pollutants, reducing heat, preventing soil erosion, cleaning the soil, controlling noise pollution, serving as a sustainable energy resource, and providing notable psychological benefits. Studies have repeatedly demonstrated the clinical benefits of patients afforded an arboreal view, for instance — from reduced stress, to quicker recover times and a decreased use of painkillers.* Trees are simply imperative for our survival.

"Treebeard and Hobbits" by Tom Loback

For decades, scientists have studied the electric currents that flow through trees — and how, when a single leaf is cut, readings spike throughout the entire structure.** [The Kirlian photographs of both whole and cut leaves may be another topic altogether.] You don’t have to be Druidic to understand the undeniable links we share with trees, just as we share the planet — keyword, share. We are all transmitters of electricity and energy.

Plant a tree…Recycle…Go paperless with bills…Follow the conservation groups diligently working to protect these magnificent and ancient living citadels.

*For More Information: