A few weeks ago we went to Corkscrew Sanctuary for a class field trip. It's been several years since I last visited. It was neat to see it in "winter" versus the heat and wetness of summer. As our guide said, there is always something different to see throughout the year. With "perpetual" sun in Florida, we don't often think of changes in seasons and the accompanying change in flora and fauna.

Sure we don't have beautiful fall foliage(although we do have sumac and maple that turn) and the weather doesn't change all that much. My dad use to always say, "It must be fall. The cyprus needles have gone brown." And, "I bent to tie my shoes and missed winter." This year winter seems to be lingering --more cold and surprisingly more rain. Of course, I remember frequent cold winters --it's kind of nice to have that back again. Even though it's probably due to climate change.

When I was six it snowed in Tampa. My mom and I scraped snow off the hood of the car and had a snow ball fight before I went to school and she went to work. At school, everyone was trying to save the snow in jars and I hid under my desk, because kids wanted to throw snow at me. In high school it snowed in Naples --though it melted before it hit the ground. School was canceled because the power went out from all of the heat usage.

Anyway, back to Corkscrew. Last time we went it was summer and hot and humid to the max. Water levels were higher, and of course, mosquitoes were everywhere! I got stung in the shoulder blade by a yellow jacket and couldn't lie down for a week! But the mallows were blooming --red and beautiful. In fact, a lot was blooming and alligators swam mere inches from our feet. The water was right up to the catwalk. My parents and I have seen more alligators than we'd know what to do with, but my mom and I loved looking at all the native plants and flowers and trying to identify them. My dad was running around with his camera taking photos a la Clyde Butcher --though obviously not up to his waist in muck.

This time animal sightings were rare, but the baby turtles were adorable and I enjoyed seeing the soft shell turtle too. Also, such beautiful birds. There was a huge snowy egret --I'd never seen one that large before! He was a big fella! Many of my classmates wanted to see snakes --mostly moccasins. I've seen more Florida snakes than I know what to do with too --including the dreaded and v. aggressive moccasin. I could do without a sighting myself. I'd love to go in September when, I'm told, the sunflowers cover the savannah and grow to amazing heights.

The thing that struck me the most though about our Corkscrew vist was the water recycling system they had set-up using plants. Brilliant, actually. But one of our guides told us that the water is chlorinated for human consumption, but when it goes back into the environment it has to be de-chlorinated because it's harmful to many living things. Hmm. Should this not tell us something? I know my doctor forbade me to drink tap water years ago because the chlorine destroyed many of the good bacteria needed in our digestive system. Hmm, again.