I had one of those days yesterday that touched nicely on a lot of the sweet spots of my life these days as a happy retiree.

It began with a nice, longish drive in the early morning on foggy highways in south and central Florida, just me and my coffee and my cd’s, with one canoe on the top of the car and the other on the trailer behind me.

I was on my way to a tranquil, three hour paddle amongst gigantic cypress trees and an abundance of osprey, vultures, alligators and other wildlife at Blue Cypress Lake. Four deer greeted me along the the old road off of State Road 60 to Middleton’s Fish Camp, where I would launch.

My day included meeting up there with about 20 other Sierra Club paddlers.  The group was large, but so was the paddling area.  One could link up with others for a chat, or strike off alone if in need of solitude.  There is hardly any urban noise at this place, just an occasional high flying jet or the sound of a boat a mile or so away.  Plenty of bandwidth for the sounds of nature to reach the ear.

I got the group together at the beginning so I could get this shot, but after that, everyone could scatter wherever they wanted.  There’s plenty of paddling room at this place.  (Photo by Ron Haines)

After the paddle I enjoyed a leisurely late lunch at the Desert Inn in Yehaw Junction with four old friends.  Now there’s a sweet spot!

And my day ended, fittingly enough, with the discovery of another recycled gas station in Okeechobee on the way home.  It is now a lovely floral shop.

Here are the photos:

This old gas station in Okeechobee, FL, is now Pat’s Floral Design (Photo by Ron Haines)

Yes, it’s me and my buddy.  (Photo by Manuel Monteiro)

Sabrina and Randy Carle

Lisa Hanley and Mike Fitzpatrick

Above, my lunch partners; on left Randy and Sabrina Carle and on right Lisa Hanley and Mike Fitzpatrick, in my Grumman canoe.  (Photo by Ron Haines)