A Trip to Blue Springs by Jane Tolbert

Crazed end of the past week. Two unhappy cats rode in their carriers. Hours spent on automated phone systems for address changes. Additional time to set up accounts associated with a new job. A car crammed with last-minute stuff--my coffee pot, vouvray wine, tango shoes and music as well as my notebooks. I could survive anywhere.

After I arrived in Gainesville, my sister decided a trip to the springs would be just the thing to get my mind off of those details associated with a move.

On this hot, bright Florida day, Blue Springs (at High Springs) quickly filled with screaming, splashing kids. Watchful parents gave advice about safety, and many small kids wore life vests. Coolers and bags of gear lined picnic tables. Kids raced to the edge of the chilly waters with inflatable floats. Others waded along the narrow sand beach or jumped in from the diving platform. A few people rented those red canoes stored neatly under the boardwalk. The focal point of activity was the head spring, known for its opaline blue color.




The quarter-mile and slightly undulating boardwalk took us along cypress and dense vegetation with two deer. Turtles basked on partially submerged logs. Underwater stretches of white sand carried a bluish tint that appeared iridescent beneath thick areas of hydrilla, an invasive plant that has choked the waterways.

Further down, dense eelgrass, which my sister compared to a brocade tapestry, lined the run. Water lettuce and duck weed dotted the water’s edge. Small bass appeared motionless as if suspended. A larger, striped bass hovered with a crayfish in its mouth. The fish disappeared into the eelgrass, where we hoped the crayfish would escape its destiny.

--Nope, he just got eaten, one bather commented.

The kids with fishing poles--well mannered with “please” and “excuse me” as they hastened past—raced to the end of the boardwalk where a larger observation deck with benches overlooked the Santa Fe River. Tannin has left a coffee-colored translucent stain on the otherwise turquoise waters.

Those kids frolicked like crazy in what might have been their last trip to the springs before the start of school. For me, too, the trip provided a nice respite before my first day at my new job.