What's Up Wednesday- June 18th

 The River, The Lakes & the Stag in Velvet

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly blog hop geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what's up.  Should you wish to join, check out Jaime's or Erin's lovely blogs and sign up with the link widget at the bottom of the post.

WHAT I'M READING

I've been reading THE FAULT IN OUR STARS aloud to Boy Chris. I can't see the movie until he finishes it, so I'm hurrying things along a bit. (He's got a form of dyslexia, so reading at night when his eyes are tired, is hard for him. But being read to...priceless.)

I also started half a dozen new books this week, but the problem with reading a really good book, is that everything pales in comparison. (i.e. Super hot angel boy...been there, done that. Oh the world was destroyed...please tell me there aren't zombies. I've had my fill of zombies.) It's been hard to find something that hooks me.

WHAT I'M WRITING

I've been connecting the dots on LOVE AND OTHER CURIOSITIES. I've got a beginning, a middle and an end. But then I have all these other little bits and bobs and I'm trying to connect them into a cohesive whole. I feel like I'm stitching stars into a constellation. Right now, if you squint really hard, it looks like a lion or a bear. I'm hoping when all the points of light come together, it will be one hell of a constellation. *fingers crossed* 

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO/ WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

It was my first Father's Day without a father. I spent it kayaking down the Myakka River with camera gear and recording equipment in tow. It seemed like a fitting homage to a man who was only truly alive in the wilderness. When we reached the banks of the Lower Lake, there were deer in the grassy meadows. I approached with the video camera, thinking they would scatter. But they didn't. A young stag in velvet came towards me. Very deliberately through the shallow water. He would move ten paces, then stop. A snort of air. A stamp of foot. Then he would move ten steps closer. He got close enough that I could see every eyelash framing his dark eyes. He bowed his head at me. And then stood motionless, looking at me. To have a wild creature, who is just as much aware of you as you are of them, stare at you like that. Look into you. It is a rare thing. It filled the hollow space in my chest with something else. With beauty and with wonder.

We got some amazing footage. Which doesn't even begin to do it justice. Although I have to note, that it is important to pay attention to where your kayak is floating when you're filming. At Deep Hole, a place where hundreds of alligators gather to bask in the sun, I was paying more attention to the camera shot than my location. I accidentally drifted and floated over the top of a 12 foot alligator in shallow water. He didn't have anywhere to go and I spooked him. He thrashed in the water and thumped my boat with that powerful tail. And for those of you who haven't experienced it before, that is one HELL of a thump. If that doesn't get your heart rate going, I don't know what does. *stupid grin* I'm lucky me and my camera gear didn't end up "in the drink".

Deep Hole- A natural spring where alligators bask by the hundreds