Boyd Hill Nature Preserve

I know this part of Florida better than my own back yard in Saint Paul, Minnesota. I can look at the GPS once or twice and remember the route to a new destination. Unremarkable for most people, but for me a near miracle.

Because of lost satellite communication, we did initially miss our turn to Boyd Hill Nature Preserve as we drove past the jungly neighborhood near St. Petersburg Country Club, which sounds upper crust but looks more like a public course. However, we could see the park beside the golf course and found the entrance easily. As we entered the nature preserve facility, I had the sinking feeling that I was once again among my new peeps, the spry elderly as well as earnest women of indeterminate age in outfits colored with natural dyes. One woman was decked in full naturalist regalia, including bug-proof stockings, sensible long skirt, hiking boots and safari hat with mosquito net.

In the coolness of the canopy

My heart sank when I saw the high efficiency toilets low to the floor. Should I have tried the stall for people with disabilities? I decided to attempt the descent to the seat, hoping that the poorly fastened lock on the door wouldn't pop open, leaving me to scramble desperately to make myself decent. No worries. All the exercises I've done in church since my knee replacements, practicing standing up from a sitting position without using my hands, have paid off. The low loos were a cinch.

Boyd Hill has a small aviary of injured birds of prey. The Boyd's Hill euphemism is that the bald eagle, hawks, owls and kestrel are "in training". While their enclosures are large and appropriate (I suppose) for birds that can't be released into the wild, seems to me these private creatures don't like being "on display" and I can't think of any educational purpose that couldn't be performed in some other way.

Coots should be in Minnesota soon

We signed up for the "tram tour", really a convoy of two 8-person golf carts. Our cart included Canadians from Toronto and Corner Brook, Newfoundland. The naturalist, Andrea from Arizona, waxed eloquent but maybe a little long on the five ecosystems in the park, but the tour was well worth our time.

I was thrilled to see a gopher tortoise, an alligator, and coots in the lake, preparing, I thought, for the long migration to Minnesota -- always a first sign of spring to me at Fort Snelling State Park. I was relieved that Bob enjoyed himself too, as these venues are "iffy", at best.