We knew that sargassum weed had taken over Placencia, Belize’s normally pristine white sandy beaches, but what the hey? We go to the same five-room hotel there every few months for a couple of …

It’s been years, maybe a couple of decades, since we visited the north entrance to the Okefenokee Swamp just south of Waycross, Georgia. Our memories of it were flavored by the repeated homage to …

Anyone who has read my column over the last couple of decades surely knows that otters are a part of my long-time history and my ever-present passion. For years I was chair of the International Union …

My brother and sister-in-law, along with two of their daughters, live in the Philadelphia area, and I’ve visited them a couple of times a year for years. I’ve seen the regular tourist sites like …

It’s about time I give homage to the wonderful beaches that border our town. So many of us moved here for the beach, and over time have aged out of enjoying it. Well, I’m not letting that happen …

It’s a ritual we perform every summer: a quick trip to Long Island to connect with Bucko’s family. The family is shrinking now, with his mom gone, and only two sisters left in the area. But …

It is one thing to see signs in Fernandina Beach announcing the drought and water conservation mandates, but it is another to see the water bodies I love dry up. My recent trip to Gainesville in the …

It’s been far too long since I took a dip in the St. Marys River. This urge hits me most summers — a throwback to my days as a grad student at the University of Florida, when my friends and I …

The pink birds are back! Roseate spoonbills that rival flamingos with their bright pink coloration are back in force along Heritage River Road off Heckscher Drive just a bit beyond the Sisters Creek …

Our recent brush clearing activities uncovered another gem of nature. When I was cleaning and setting up our deck chairs that had lain dormant collecting detritus for weeks, I found a surprise. A …

Last week’s story detailed the long-needed brush clearing of our edge of the retention pond. I was eager to show our landscaper, Rob, the changes since he had been in our yard mowing grass before …

Bucko and I moved into our brand new home in 2002, 25 years ago, when we were both full of yardwork vigor. Our lot was devoid of trees, shrubs, and plants of any kind, although it did border a …

I can’t believe that Bucko and I have lived for 20-some years in Simmons Cove right beside a property with horses and I never talked to the owners. Well, this week when I saw the property owner on …

For years, Bucko and I have “gone south,” as we call it, a few days a week down “the most beautiful drive in the country,” at least in our minds. Although the traffic has gotten worse over …

I usually don’t go for fruit if given a choice, but for me, mangos are something different. They are the best of the fruiting world, in my opinion at least. And am I in luck! This trip to Belize, …

Bucko and I have been coming to Placencia, Belize for four years, three times a year, two weeks each time. We come to the same five-room beachfront hotel and always stay in the same room. In …

Well, it looks like I can’t have everything. Bucko and I can’t leave home for weeks at a time and still have a functioning garden, or so it seems. Back in April I wrote a column extolling the …

Often Bucko and I like to escape the hubbub of busy times in Fernandina Beach by driving a bit less than two hours up to Darien, Georgia. Over the years, we have seen this town transform from a …

Another piece of Old Florida is disappearing this weekend: Chiappini’s Gulf Station in Melrose, Florida — not really a gas station at all, at least not for years. Thirty years ago, when I lived …

Like most everyone else here, I have long heard of “the rock” and when I was younger, lots of television commercials for Prudential Insurance featured the Rock of Gibraltar. And believe it or …