I went to college at the University of Florida in Gainesville, which is a unique thing here in Oregon, but in Florida it’s common. If you’ve never been to Florida, and even if you have, the best thing about Florida is the natural world. The swamps, rivers, springs, ocean, and beaches. Everything else about Florida can fuck off. It’s the worst. But when I tell you there is magic in the wilderness in Florida, you should believe me. There is nothing like it. It is stunning. I’ve been surprised by the magic in Florida’s secrets and even though I carry trauma with me because of the many painful memories I have of growing up there, those sacred moments that I experienced in the wilderness are still alive in me now.

When I was in college, we heard about tubing down the Ichetucknee River in central Florida, 45 minutes from Gainesville. We loaded up my mini van. Aaron, myself, Danielle, Barra, and Big Dave. Big Dave was a giant, really tall, that’s why we called him Big Dave. On this day, as with many other days, he wore his Spock ears. We stopped at some country mart where they sold night crawlers for fishing and rented tubes.

This river is gorgeous, it is crystal clear, not your regular, brown river like we have here in Oregon. It is blue and clear all the way to the bottom. The water was very cold, but central Florida is hot as hell, so the cold water is really nice. We grabbed our tubes and walked to the river. As we got closer we noticed the signs warning that alligators live in the river, tube at your own risk. Back then, I never worried about alligators. I worry about so many things, back then I worried maybe just a little bit less, but alligators did not worry me. How did I not worry about them attacking us? Irrational minds make little sense. We floated for hours, it was so relaxing, so beautiful. We were in the clear, blue water, surrounded by the lush, green jungle that is so common in the wild areas of Florida. Aaron started to get really cold, I’ve never seen him so cold, he’s never cold. He was shivering too much. We got out at our exit, the current was swift, it almost carried Barra away. She was swimming and swimming towards us on the dock, Danielle was hysterically laughing, Barra wasn’t getting any closer. She finally made it, I can’t remember how. Maybe someone pulled her in? Maybe she made it on her own? I can’t remember that part. Aaron was still freezing. Big Dave still had his Spock ears on. Danielle was recovering from laughing at Barra and her horrible fear of alligators. Then we went to Macdonalds. The perfect Florida day.

P.S. We did not see one alligator.

Sending you all the love.

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