Monday Monday

The day started out warm and pleasant.  It was a little cloudy and there was some rain in the forecast, but it looked like it could sneak by us to the north without soaking us.  There was no sneaking.  I went home at the end of the day a little drippy still.  It was OK though, most of my day was spent running errands and going from place to place as I usually do on Mondays.  I started with paperwork first thing in the morning.  I also talked to my coworkers before they left to get started on their projects for the day.
I got out to take a quick walk before I headed out of the park.  I saw another sign of spring!  The Japanese Magnolias have such big, bright flowers that are ready to burst.  These small trees are not native to Florida and normally, we try to restore the park to its native vegetation.  While these trees are exotic because they are not naturally found in Florida, they are not invasive which is the biggest worry with exotic plants.  The Japanese Magnolia is not very good at competing with other tree species in the park.  We don't have to worry about it one day spreading to cover the whole park.  These trees can also be part of a Cultural Resource in the park.  They were planted right behind the cabin and do as much to tell the story of the people who have lived here as the cabin does.  So, I have declared a truce with the two Japanese Magnolia trees by the cabin.  They can stay as long as they never decide to become invasive and I will enjoy their beautiful flowers.



I went to town and made my stop at the bank before heading to Ichetucknee.  At Ichey, I dropped off my paperwork and made some copies.  The printer at Troy is out of ink and procurement of ink has been difficult lately.  With my copies made and my errands there complete, I headed out to the other side of Ichetucknee to see the areas that we burned last week.  I never took the time to drive the full way around the burn zone before I left last Wednesday, so it was nice to see how well the fire carried through.  I was surprised to see one log still burning.  It was no where near any unburned fuel so it was not a problem to have it still burning.  It was neat to see how the lower section of the tree had burned so completely into a pile of ash.  Maybe the rest of the tree will look the same way this time next week.



I was drawn to the marks and charring on the leaves of this Redbay.  This tree is not very tolerant of fire, however the fire does help with seed germination.  The tree didn't like it much, but it made it through our fire just fine.


When I left Ichetucknee, it was my plan to head to Adams Tract next to visit with our volunteers there.  The rain started just as I was getting on the road.  In the 20 miles between Ichetucknee and Troy (on one road) I drove through pouring rain, drizzle, light rain, no rain and more rain.  I changed my mind several times as to weather I would go to Adams Tract today or another day.  I finally ended up just going.  When I had to get out of the truck to open the gate, I got soaked.  It was raining just as hard as it could be raining.  I had a good visit with the volunteers though and everything is going well there.  While the rain was light, I headed back to Troy.  I put away my paperwork and checked in with my coworkers and headed home to dry out.